Category Archives: Art

Masters of Videomontage

5th August 2016

Some of the most fascinating video animators I’ve ever seen – Cyriak (Brighton, UK), Fernando Livschitz (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Till Nowak (Hamburg, Germany). Using found footage and masks, they create a surreal and often disturbing view of reality.

As mentioned in the ‘Heroes of Animation film’, Cyriak sees this style as a natural evolution of the Terry Gilliam school – taking photographic elements and moving them in unexpected ways. I would go further and in that it takes Russian Constructivist fine-art photomontage to a natural conclusion.

We are so used to amateur camcorder and mobile films these days that this approach seems to transcend animation – and we are drawn into their world.

We are so used to amateur camcorder and mobile video these days that this approach seems to even transcend animation – and we are drawn into their world. So much so that The Institute for Centrifugal Research seems to be (remotely) plausible.

And here’s how it’s done.

This profile of Cyriak includes a history of his work, and a demonstration of his process. This behind-the-scenes video from The Centrifuge Brain Project shows the CGI overlaid over the source footage, and this After Effects tutorial explains the basics, using a locked-off camera (then you can add natural camera movement afterwards).

Miguel Chevalier “Magic Carpets 2016”

Magic Carpets 2016

25th July 2016

Magic Carpets 2016 is a giant luminous carpet projected on the floor inside of the MK Center. This carpet is made of different virtual and multicolore graphic scenes inspired by emblematic forms associated to urban landscapes in Milton Keynes which are very constructivist. The artwork beneficiates of a musical display specially created for the installation and composed by Ray Lee. The technical production is by French firm Voxels Productions.

The visitors will be able to carry small aluminium spheres generating the music.  By using presence sensors the installation is interactive – in a visual way this fluent universe is impacted by the visitors’ movements.

The moves modify the elements’ trajectory under the feet drawing a new composition which remains stunning.  Like a giant kaleidoscope the spectator is immersed in a world of colors, moving forms and travels into an imaginary and poetic game of optical illusions.

via designboom.com and miguel-chevalier.com

The Stanley Parable

The Stanley Parable (and more…)

3rd June 2016

The Stanley Parable (adapted from the free original Half-Life 2 mod) is an exploration of story, games, and choice. Except the story doesn’t matter, it might not even be a game, and if you ever actually do have a choice, well let me know how you did it.

It was a collaboration between Davey and UK designer William Pugh, working together as Galactic Cafe. The game expanded substantially upon the mod version, adding substantial amounts of new content, new endings, a complete overhaul of the visual designs, and new voicework from Kevan Brighting.

The game was one of the first to be approved for Steam via the Greenlight community feature. It went on to sell over a million copies, win such awards as the IGF 2014 Audience Choice award, and be featured in schools and museums all over the world.

A free demo and the full version can be purchased here.

The Beginner’s Guide is a narrative video game for Mac and PC. It lasts about an hour and a half and has no traditional mechanics, no goals or objectives. Instead, it tells the story of a person struggling to deal with something they do not understand. It can be purchased here.

Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger And The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist is a free-to-play “15 minute heist game” in which you’ll become a master thief, burglarizing his way across the hottest summer in Europe. It features voice acting by British comedian Simon Amstell, formerly the host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, who seems to be having a bit of a stressful time explaining exactly what it is you’ll be doing on this job.

via everythingunlimitedltd.com

Kadenze Creative Coding

International Month of Creative Code

2nd June 2016

Kadenze has joined forces with many leading universities, institutions, and organizations to declare May as the “International Month of Creative Code.” A full month out of every year will now be dedicated towards putting the spotlight on creative code-related events, new courses, artist features, interviews, and projects.

There’s a number of wide-ranging courses on the link below – from “Introduction to Programming for Musicians and Digital Artists” to “Creative Programming for Audiovisual Art”, there’s something there for everyone. Everyone who’s interested in Creative Code, that is.

Notably, there seems to be a movement away from Processing towards the more browser-friendly Javascript-based P5 library.

via creativeapplications.net

The Others - Hiroshi Kondo

Hiroshi Kondo

28th April 2016

Hiroshi Kondo captures the the energy and the loneliness of living in such a vast metropolis in his experimental short, The Others. The slit-scanning film bends time and place into a moving portrait of a Tokyo square by highlighting the individual and the crowd moving both separately and in haunting unison. The overall product is something between glitch art and augmented reality.

You can see more of his talented work at his website below.

via stnw.org

Eric Prydz - Hologram

Eric Prydz – EPIC 4.0 Tour Visuals

5th April 2016

Coming off the very successful campaign for Eric Prydz’s Generate music video, our friend Michael Sershall hired the team back to design the visuals for his EPIC 4.0 tour. The setup for the live show was fairly insane, with content screen forming a cube with a 28mm see-through LED in front, a Holo Gauze through the middle for a mesmerizing hologram projection, and finally a 12mm 4:1 wide-screen LED in the back enclosing the cube and playing back the key content.

For the gig, Munkowitz tapped his favorite collaborators, the great Conor Grebel and Michael Rigley, both ridiculously talented Cinema4D Artists and Animators, who brought their A-Game for this throwdown. All the content was rendered with the amazing Octane Renderer which meant the team bought two superComputers and a fuckLoad of graphics cards to render all the wetness. In the end, the project was about making art for entertainment, and these kinds of paying gigs are what we love.

via gmunk.com and bedtimes.xxx

Transhumanism & Biohacking

14th March 2016

Wearable technology has taken the next logical step – implants.

From LEDs to NFCs and RFIDs, consumers are looking at ways of applying medical approaches to implant consumer-grade technology. So-called Grindhouse Wetware (or “Grinders”) view this as next level body augmentation (i.e. piercings on steroids), and with the Maker revolution you can now cheerfully implant this technology yourself at home. You can already buy an all-in-one syringe kit (based on animal LifeChip transponders – for when your cat or dog goes missing).

Bodyhacking – turning yourself into a cyborg – also includes enhancements to existing senses (such as infra-red eyesight) or creating new senses (such as sensing magnetic north or radio frequencies). A lot of this technology was initially developed for people with disabilities or impairments (such as cochlear implants for the deaf, and retina implants for the blind). Artificial hearts and pacemakers could be seen as the ancestors of embedded tech.

It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to swipe your Oyster card with your wrist. Never forget your keys again!

via dangerousthings.com and iflscience.com

Keeping streets clean: vote with your butt

24th February 2016

We all want clean and safe spaces around us. Public polling discovered that a staggering 86% of people think littering is a disgusting habit yet only 15% of us would actually confront someone and tell them that. Taking pride in the areas we live and work in helps to build better communities, and saves money.

This is why from May to October, UK crowdfunding network Hubbub trialled a new approach to tackling littering on Villiers Street, Westminster, using the latest thinking on behaviour change and awareness raising from around the world.

Hubbub’s 5 point litter manifesto:

We think that everyone can work together to make local spaces cleaner, safer and more inviting. Let’s all put litter in its place:

  • Government: Don’t loiter on litter. Create a strategy that has teeth.  Show leadership by providing or stimulating funding.  Engage with the signatories of the Litter Prevention Commitment and other important stakeholders to create a robust plan winning widespread support.
  • Businesses, NGO’s and Local Authorities: Act with a unified voice to raise litter up the agenda with government and the public. Share bright ideas and support innovative, collaborative behaviour change schemes nationwide.
  • Local Organisations: Work to create new coalitions, taking local action on litter. Business Improvement Districts take a leadership role and share results so that successes can be replicated elsewhere.
  • Media! You have a role too. Help bring this issue seriously back into public debate. Capture the imagination of the public, promoting pride in local areas.
  • Everyone: Litter is in your hands, and will only change if we change our behaviours. Let’s wise up and bin it. Taking pride in our neighbourhoods will save money and help build better communities.

Inspired to run your own campaign? Click here for more information on replicating Neat Streets.

via hubbub.org, ballotbin.co.uk and digitalsynopsis.com

Werner Herzog Talks Virtual Reality

23rd February 2016

“I am convinced that this is not going to be an extension of cinema or 3-D cinema or video games. It is something new, different, and not experienced yet,” the filmmaker Werner Herzog said of virtual reality. An interview by Patrick House with the filmmaker about simulation and experience.

via newyorker.com

Giorgia Lupi @ Accurat

19th February 2016

Giorgia Lupi is an information designer in Brooklyn, New York. Her work and research challenges the impersonality that data might communicate, designing engaging visual narratives able to connect numbers to what they stand for: knowledge, behaviors, people. She is co-founder and design director at Accurat, a data driven research-design and innovation firm. She has been drawing weekly data as 1/2 of Dear Data from New York.

via brainpickings.com

Optical Data Storage Squeezes 360TB on to a Quartz Disc — Forever

18th February 2016

Researchers at Southampton University in the UK have now written a series of major works to small glass discs– including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Newton’s Opticks, the Magna Carta and the Kings James Bible. The density of the data aboard these discs suggests that they could squeeze a total of 360 terabytes onto a single piece of quartz. They also point out that the data is extremely stable: It could endure for as long as 13.8 billion years at temperatures up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

via gizmodo.com

The Blockchain Institute: Beyoncé vs Bitcoin

13th February 2016

I wonder how long it will be before this form of e-parody explodes.

If you look on Twitter, you will find that someone set up the Blockchain Institute. Perhaps this official-sounding organisation will come up with some good ideas as to the practical application of blockchain?

A quick look through the institute’s Twitter mentions shows people thanking it for sharing conferences and blogs, criticising it for not crediting images, including it in conversations, connecting it with friends, and asking it questions. But the Blockchain Institute is a computer program. Not only that, it’s a program that tweets nonsense.

It replaces the word blockchain with Beyoncé and bitcoin with feminism. If it sees a tweet that says “blockchain is a star because of bitcoin” it changes it to “Beyoncé is a star because of feminism”. There is no new content. The computer program does word substitution. Nothing more complex. Yet people are struggling to spot that it’s simply copying other people’s thoughts, words and ideas and – for some reason known only to its creator – adding in a bit of extra Beyoncé and feminism.

People are trusting opinions without recognising they are coming from a machine, or that they don’t actually make any sense.

via marketingmagazine.co.uk and twitter.com

Random International

22nd August 2012

Founded in 2005, Random International is a collaborative studio for experimental practice within contemporary art.

Taking science as a means to develop a new material vocabulary, their work invites consideration of the man/machine relationship through explorations of behaviour and natural phenomena, with the viewer an active participant.

Random International is led by founders Florian Ortkrass and Hannes Koch, who met at Brunel University before going on to study at the Royal College of Art. Ortkrass and Koch led the creative direction of the studio alongside cohort Stuart Wood until his departure in 2015. Based in London, with an outpost in Berlin, the studio today includes a wider team of diverse and complementary talent.

via random-international.com

TroikArt

15th August 2009

TroikArt is Troika’s experimental playground. It serves as a playground to develop and test innovative approaches and ideas, as well as providing Troika with a platform for Art.

via troika.uk.com

Vector-Scan

15th August 2009

Ryota Kuwakubo’s on-line portfolio. Check out the blue Logic/Impression interaction in the software section.

via vector-scan.com

Foolish Videos

15th August 2009

On April 1st 2001, fools dropped money in over fifty locations in the USA. Other campaign highlights include the annual Buy Nothing Day, and TV Turnoff Week. Has the wild human spirit been tamed? Is an oppositional culture still possible? Can we launch another revolution?

via adbusters.org