Modalities of Space in Video and Computer Games

“Abstract: During the last 30 years computer and videogames have grown into a large entertainment industry of economical as well as cultural and social importance. As a distinctive field of academic inquiry begins to evolve in the form of game studies, the majority of approaches can be identified as emerging either from a background of literary theory which motivates a concentration on narrative structures or from a dedicated focus on the rules in video and computer games. However, one of the most evident properties of those games is their shared participation in a variety of spatial illusions. Although most researchers share the view that issues related to mediated space are among the most significant factors characterising the new medium, as of yet, no coherent conceptual exploration of space and spatial representation in video and computer games has been undertaken. Continue reading

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Floating Eye

[…] (photo by Saxinger) Floating Eye (2001), by Hiroo Iwata (VRlab), is an interactive installation that separates vision from the body. The participant can only see wide-angle image floating in the air. The image is captured by a wireless camera attached to an airship, pulled along by the user. The participants can see themselves from above, along with the surrounding area.

A large helmet provides the immersive experience. This helmet contains a convex mirror, with a projector mounted at the rear, so the image takes up the users whole field of view. The movie belows shows how this works. Movie (10mb mpeg) More images and video. Continue reading

Media-Assisted Performance

CounterPULSE presents STREAM/fest a festival of cutting-edge performance, including MAP: Media-Assisted Performance (Thurs-Fri) and EPF: Emerging Performance Festival (Sat-Sun) :: When: Thursday-Sunday, May 17-20 @ 8pm :: Where: CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street @ 9th, San Francisco :: Tickets: $12-20 Sliding scale :: Info/Res: 415-435-7552 or info[at]counterpulse.org :: Contact info: Jessica Robinson, 415-626-2060 or jessica[at]counterpulse.org.

MAP: Media-Assisted Performance– Thursday & Friday, May 17 & 18: Artists respond to climate change, advances in technology and media saturation with a sophisticated mélange of live performance and interactive media. DAVID SZALASA presents a sneak preview of “My HOT Lobotomy,” a farcical interdisciplinary media performance about a NASA employee who willingly has a lobotomy to forget what he knows about global warming. SUBJECT TO CHANGE PERFORMANCE COMPANY’s “Study 2013” references both global warming and the second coming of Christ, employing bodies, video, text and sound to explore both the tension and the comedy of living in ‘The End Times.’ Continue reading

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Mobile Broadcast Unit

The G.R.L. rolls out its newest probably-not-street-legal vehicle, the Mobile Broadcast Unit: audio, projection and L.A.S.E.R. tag systems all mounted on a big tricycle. Last Friday, the G.R.L went to war against boredom and had a blast riding and writing with Critical Mass in Brooklyn. Beginning in the summer in NYC you will be able to borrow the MBU to wage your own personal wars in the city. Stay Tuned. Continue reading

90 Degrees Equatorial Project

JAMES GEURTS’ 90 Degrees Equatorial Project :: through May 19 :: EXPERIMENTAL ART FOUNDATION :: Lion Arts Centre North Terrace at Morphett Street, Adelaide, Australia 5000 :: eaf[at]eaf.asn.au.

90 Degrees Equatorial Project combines three aspects of Geurts’ practice – photography, video and site-specific installations. The works are primarily abstract documentation generated by situated on-site performance. Geurts works with video by manipulating live feed to force errors in the recording process. Abstraction of real-time into video static opens the possibility of unexpected relationships between visual and aural elements. Continue reading

Sensorium: Embodied Experience versus Digital Media

The Centre for Research into Material Digital Cultures at the University of Sussex, Public Lecture: ‘Sensorium: Embodied Experience versus Digital Media’ :: Monday May 21, 2007 t 5:30 pm :: Brighton and Sussex Medical School Lecture Theatre, University of Sussex :: All Welcome :: RSVP to Vanessa Sammut so we can keep track of numbers: V.A.Sammut[at]sussex.ac.uk

Speaker: Caroline Jones, Professor of Art History, MIT :: Respondent: Esther Leslie, Professor of Political Aesthetics at Birkbeck, University of London. Welcome: Professor Sue Thornham, University of Sussex/Caroline Bassett, Director, Centre for Research in Material Digital Cultures Chair: Dr Michael Bull, founding editor of Senses and Society. Continue reading

By Usman HAQUE & Adam SOMLAI-FISCHER using sensors and actuators developed by the Reorient Team. Continue reading

Upgrade! São Paulo: gilbertto prado: Networks and Artistic Spaces of Intervention :: May 17, 2007, 7:30 pm @ i-People: Av Vergueiro 727, next to the Vergueiro Subway Station.

Experimentations with art and technology have multiplied in the last three decades with the use of several kinds of creation, production and distribution by artists. Those possibilities are emphasized particularly through the internet and its popularization in the 90’s and more recently through the wireless devices and the virtual multi-user environments. The purpose of this presentation is to bring a brief panorama pointing out some artists, as well as to present some recent personal artistic works such as interactive installations and videogame. Continue reading