Image Ecologies

Image courtesy of the artist, Ernest Edmonds

Shaping Form, 2007. As exhibited in Gallery 1 of the CDG, 2007.

Image courtesy of the artists, Maria Miranda & Norie Neumark

The 4th Floor, 2004-5. Online interface of Rue de Chazelles, Paris.

Image courtesy of the artist, Ian Gwilt

save_as, 2007. As exhibited in Beta_space, PHM, Sydney, 2007

Invited Artists: Ernest Edmonds, Brigid Costello, Maria Miranda & Norie Neumark, Sarah Gibson, Ian Gwilt, Eamon Davern

Curatorial Rationale: New Media artwork has moved beyond the recorded mediums of photography and film to encompass interactive, augmented, and generative works due to the appropriation of and reliance on digitization by its practitioners. 

These emergent and evolving art forms exist, in the words of Ron Burnett, as image ecologies. This terminology references the exploratory way in which the average person navigates digital imagery in contemporary society.  This exhibition will explore the collaborative way New Media Research initiatives within UTS are themselves example of creative ecologies.

By providing environments, tools, and instruction, these environments are instilling in their inhabitants (both students and collaborators) the ability to evolve alongside current technology in regard to new media art creation. This exhibition will showcase the production outputs of three leading UTS laboratories and studios: 1) the Creativity and Cognition Studios (FEIT); 2) the Centre for Media Arts Innovation (HSS); and 3) the Visual Communication course for School of Design (DAB).

Fashioning Now...

Image courtesy of Romance Was Born

Romance Was Born, 2009 Collection

Fashion is often perceived negatively in terms of sustainability and yet one of its inherent qualities is innovation, the search for new solutions. This exhibition explores various ways in which fashion designers, artists and companies are refashioning the act of making clothes for a sustainable future where ‘fashion’ is an inherently positive facet of culture.

The scope of the exhibition extends from high fashion to mass manufacturing, and from products to systems. It attempts to highlight alternate modes of sustainable fashion in addition to the popular options of fashion produced with organic materials or recycled vintage fabrics. Some pieces are not wearable in the traditional sense, but make strong cases for new, improved practices.

Fashioning Now draws on research projects from international creators who are investigating solutions in various areas of the ‘closed loop’ system of production.  This exhibition objects are divided into four main categories: source, make, use and last.

Amongst the exhibition objects will be fashion garments and textile objects, digital print photographs / illustrations / drawings and time-based media.

Spring and Asura

Image courtesy of the artist, Chris Bowman

Spring and Asura, 2008. As exhibited in Beta_space, PHM, Sydney 2008.

Spring and Asura currently exists as a prototype artwork by Chris Bowman and Alastair Weakley, whose key interests lie in resolving the issues of calmness and disturbance through technology, imagery, and text. The work currently utilizes floorpad interaction and a single stream projection of text and imagery. After its exhibition and evaluation in Beta_space, it is expected to become a more resolved work utilizing image capture recognition and dual screen projection for a more immersive experience.  It is this 2nd iteration that has been proposed to the ATVP.

This interactive installation explores the relationship between natural phenomena and text extracts from the poem "Spring and Asura" written by Kenji Miyazawa (translated into English by Hiroaki Sato). The work is further explored through the recitation and chanting of the Heart Sutra, one of the most important of Buddhist sutras.

“Interconnectivity” is an important metaphor in Kenji’s work. His poetry explores an indivisible unity between inanimate and animate phenomena and this installation acts as a metaphor for that interconnection. Spring and Asura features video recordings of natural phenomena that respond to where Kenji Miyazawa lived. These act as personal explorations and reflections on the poem and have influenced the development of the software system. Using motion capture software Spring and Asura explores the movement of light and shade within the video recordings of natural phenomena that in turn effects the movement of the text. This self-generating interconnected system therefore, creates an ordering and re-ordering of the poetry text.
 
Kenji Miyazawa is a household name that captivates the imagination of adults and children alike. Kenji’s exploration into the subconscious and the ‘order of space-time’ as told through a lexicon of poems, novels and “mental sketches” illustrate his life-long pursuit of understanding and creative interpretation of the human imagination and the living world. This rich terrain offers artists and intelligent software developers an expansive cognitive model on which to build an immersive interactive experience.