Ars Electronica Center and Linz Art University present
TIME OUT .04 – Young Linz Media Artists
press release: TIME OUT .04 – Young Linz Media Artists / PDF
(Linz, June 19, 2015) This is the fourth showcase of works by young Linz-based media artists staged jointly by the Ars Electronica Center and Linz Art University’s Time-based and Interactive Media program. “I’m especially pleased that TIME OUT .04 is featuring the first works to come out of our course ‘Ars Electronica Center Deep Space,’” said program administrator Gerhard Funk. “The whole semester, students working under the guidance of Ars Electronica Futurelab staff experts got to use Deep Space as their own personal workshop of sorts and take advantage of its marvelous technical possibilities specifically for their own artistic works.” TIME OUT .04 consists of five interactive Deep Space applications and four works of media art displayed at various locations throughout the Ars Electronica Center.
TIME OUT .04 – The Projects
Selbsttonfilm (2014) / Peter Karrer (AT)
The sound doesn’t make the music; the film does! “Selbsttonfilm” [auto-soundtrack] analyzes existing video material according to a prescribed set of rules and generates a soundtrack on that basis. The film sets itself to music, you might say, and the synchronized playback of the appropriately matched up images and sounds provides a fascinating audiovisual experience. In this modern-day take on the live accompaniment of silent films that was commonplace in theaters and the first movie houses beginning in the late 19th century, the piano once again plays the starring role. But this musical interpretation of the on-screen action isn’t a live pianist’s artistry; it’s the output of software reacting to the visual content.
Siblings of Frank (2014) / Andreas Trixl (AT)
All of us have long since gotten used to the fact that in practically every store we enter and, increasingly, every public square we walk through, surveillance cameras record every step we take. But establishing direct eye contact with the lenses that are keeping an eye on us brings forth a rather uneasy feeling. With the help of a Kinect camera and OpenTSPS software, “Siblings of Frank” recognizes persons and objects in the installation space and reports their position to a program that controls the movements of the artificial eyes projected onto the space’s wall. Which eye focuses in which direction is allocated at random. If they don’t recognize anything, they close their artificial eyelids.
Tape Delay (2014) / Lukas Jakob Löcker (AT)
“Tape Delay” is an analog work that invites visitors to experiment with sounds, noise and their own voice. Since the 1950s, the tape-delay sound effect technique has been an essential element in many musical genres. To achieve it, audio signals from a microphone are recorded to an audiotape and played back after a specified time has elapsed. Since the tape is spliced together to form a loop, the sounds audible in the installation space are played back again on the same audiotape. As a result, the quality of the original recording changes over time. The analog technology permits installation visitors to listen in on the past, so to speak, and leave behind personal tonal traces.
T-TWEE (2014) / Christina Dellemeschnig (AT)
The business model of Facebook, Twitter & Co. is based on their users’ data—gathering it, analyzing it and selling it to others. “T-TWEE” deals with the interrelationship between wholesaling personal data and global financial flows, and also builds a bridge between a digital medium and an analog one. Randomly selected tweets are punched, character for character, into a paper tape and then made audible by feeding the tape through an analog music box. Depending on the current price of Twitter Inc.’s stock (which is visible on the small display), the music box’s motor is set in motion.
Works presented in or created for Deep Space
movie puzzle / Katharina Gruber
Excerpts from animated sequences by Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer constitute this work’s point of departure. The excerpts were cut into nine “pieces of footage” of equal length and projected onto Deep Space’s floor. Visitors can walk on the randomly arranged sequences and thereby change their position. The point is to reassemble these constantly changing lengths of footage into a complete video. To achieve this, several visitors have to reach an agreement and work together.
Sinus / Simon Krenn
“Sinus” was inspired by parametric algorithms used by architectural planners, and based on the principles of the Golden Ratio or Fibonacci sequence of numbers. Simon Krenn sought a way to integrate sine and cosine functions into a visual, interactive program. To do so, he translated mathematical principles into a program code that he then inserted into an interactive program. Finally, he optimized the graphic output of the waves and added in several subtle effects. The result speaks for itself!
Untitled (GEOMETRIC SOUNDSCAPE) / Clemens Niel
Clemens Niel’s work invites visitors to take an experimental approach to dealing with the interrelationships among sound, visualization, motion and position in space.
solar system / Moritz Rathke
“solar system” is an interactive world of imagery in which walk-on sliders and buttons projected onto Deep Space’s floor enable visitors to modify planet-like objects and move them around. The so-called navigation area, the central control element, makes possible this motion in three-dimensional space.
TS19 (Video) / Ferenc Hirt
Image and sound—actually two discrete elements—are usually amalgamated into a unitary whole in our minds, and most of us take this completely for granted. This invisible linkup is made visible in an animated film entitled “TS19.” Although none of the individual points are literally connected to one another, they’re clearly part of a reciprocal interrelationship and thus reflect the invisible connection that prevails.
Photo:
Tape Delay / Robertba / Printversion / Album
Photo:
Siblings of Frank / Robertba / Printversion / Album
Photo:
T-TWEE / Robertba / Printversion / Album
