mediaLuscious Design + Art Review

MEDIA LUSCIOUS • DESIGN + ART REVIEW • DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE •

MEDIA LUSCIOUS DESIGN + ART REVIEW

DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE

Dynamic Media Institute ( DMI ) is up to its old tricks again, planning to usher in the 2011 semester with an amazing new show — mediaLuscious Design + Art Review. mediaLuscious will feature the eclectic, forward-thinking prototypes and simulations from MassArt’s MFA Graduate Design students. Their work includes: immersive video and sound installations; performance art; onscreen interface design; dynamic narrative; and interactive gaming scenarios.

‘The ultimate purpose behind mediaLuscious is to create new exposure and greater awareness for the creative work that DMI continuously produces,’ says Tania Ostorga co-curator of the exhibition.

‘Its important to get the work out in front of the public often and see how they respond to the mindopening array of work inspired by the program.’

‘This is a critical year for Dynamic Media Institute — a true milestone to celebrate,’ co-curator lou suSi explains. ‘And we’ve lined up several ambitious and intriguing shows to make this 10th year of DMI a special one, filled with the thought-provoking work of

CONTINUED ON THE BACK FLAP

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MEDIA LUSCIOUS • DESIGN + ART REVIEW • DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE •

MARCH 5, 2011 POZEN CENTER MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN 1

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mediaLuscious Design & Art Review was co-curated by Tania Ostorga, lou suSi and Alexander Wang in the Spring of 2011 Official mediaLuscious postcard, poster and overall brand design provided courtesy of Christopher Field Unofficial mediaLuscious and mediaLicious improvisational designs provided courtesy of lou suSi All official mediaLuscious photography included in this exhibition catalog graciously provided courtesy of Andrew Ellis mediaLuscious Design & Art Review received official co-sponsorship from Dynamic Media Institute and Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Graduate Office. Many of the participating designers also received funding and support from The Proximity Lab Fund established by DMI Alumna Evan Karatzas.

Š 2013 DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE, All rights reserved.

No part of this document may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means ( including photocopying, recording, telekinesis, or information storage or retrieval ) without written permission from DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE. All of the artists whose works appear in this catalog retain the copyright and moral rights to their works.

You may share this work under the guidelines of fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations. http://medialuscious.com http://medialicio.us http://dynamicmediainstitute.org http://massart.edu

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Cool write-up about mediaLuscious and DMI in the Boston DIG

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MEDIA LUSCIOUS DESIGN + ART REVIEW

DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE

MARCH 5, 2011

POZEN CENTER MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

design review

TABLE of CONTENTS dedications & thanks.................................. 7 setting up the show....................................... 8 curators’ introductory notes...................... 18 mediaLuscious documentia......................20 Passage..................................................... 22 :: by Alison Kotin Curry Mousepath Beta ................................. 24 :: by Heather Shaw ( with Curry College ) SpamStream............................................... 26 :: by Christopher Field & Matt Quesada skypeChrist ................................................ 28 :: by lou suSi & Christopher Borden

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Telefive...................................................... 30 :: by Nicole Tariverdian & Maria Stangel & Shan Gao hawtSeat.................................................... 32 :: by lou suSi & David Tamés

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Knock.............................................. 34 :: by Alexander Wang

Duck................................................ 44 :: by Kid-Jaturont Jamigranont

Interactive Resume ........................... 36 :: by Saul Baizman

Case No. 70,001................................ 46 :: by Hao Yaoming WTF! ............................................... 48 :: by Joseph Liberty & Tania Ostorga

Comfort Food.................................... 38 :: by Nicole Tariverdian The Perfect Human 2010 [2.0]............. 40 :: by Jeff Bartell Rick Rubin is a Gateway Drug.............. 42 :: by Daniel Buckley & Zach Kaiser & Gabi Shaffzin feature performance.......................... 56 :: by Zach Kaiser aka King Sol

Who is the Perfect Human?................. 50 :: by Martha Kucharik Rettig Punching Balls.................................. 52 :: by Tania Ostorga rrReBRaNd....................................... 54 :: by Zach Kaiser, lou suSi & other DMIrrRz additional Stand Up | no comedy act.... 58 :: by SiNuS BRaDy

mediaLuscious reflections & conclusions................................................ 60 candid photodocumentation from mediaLuscious.................................. 62

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DEDICATIONS & THANKS The co-curatorial team for mediLuscious Design & Art Review would like to humbly thank MassArt’s Studio for Interrelated Media for giving us access to the Pozen Center to put on mediLuscious and for working with us to put up and take down such a huge, technically complex exhibition in a smooth and professional manner.

The curators and many of the participating artists and designers for this show also with to thank Fred Wolflink, Max Azanow, and Scott Hadley for all the wisdom, advice and know-how they provided to make so many of the projects shown at mediLuscious super cool successful pieces. In several instances, too, Scott Hadley problem-solved on the spot during installation — he went over and beyond the call of duty and fully understood how to best leverage the Pozen Center and the many miraculous resources available to all MassArt students from semi-hidden resources like The Crypt and beyond.

The curators and the participating artists and designers for mediLuscious would also like to thank the brilliant faculty at Dynamic Media Institute — Jan Kubasiewicz, Gunta Kaza, Joe Quackenbush, Brian Lucid, Colin Owens and Evan Karatzas — for always guiding, teaching and supporting the kind of eclectic, future-forward thinking and design work we do at DMI, and also for pushing us to continually meet higher and higher expectations and standards in academia through our rigorous intellectual research and through each of our individual design processes and journies while at DMI. The kind of nurturing support, daily assistance and mentorship you continually give our DMI Family on a logistical, conceptual, psychological, cosmological and even spiritual level invaluably sets us all up for more confident and powerful DMI afterlives in design, technology, new and participatory media, dynamic media ( or course ) and other related domains.

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SETTING UP THE SHOW

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CURATORS’ INTRODUCTORY NOTES “Alex, wouldn’t it be awesome if we had our own show? I mean a show where all the DMI students had the opportunity to show their work without being kicked out?” This conversation with Alex Wang, a fellow DMI student back in November of 2010, was the inspiration and catalyst for developing our own DMI student show in the Spring of 2011.

After our conversation, I thought about the gallery settings at MassArt and how unsuited these settings were for the type of work produced by DMI students. All the spaces are either too small or don’t have the appropriate structure. However, when I first stepped into The Pozen Center, I found that this amazing place was exactly what I had in mind. It was big and was clearly designed to host large, wonderful events that included sound and lighting.

This was the perfect spot for our show.

november 2010

ta n i a o s t o r g a from h er DM I the si s

p l ay f u l a g r e s s i o n

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a g r e s s i v e p l ay

After running around for a few hours gathering info about The Pozen Center, I learned that in order to reserve the space I needed it to talk to Max. But who was Max? I approached one of the students from the MassArt Studio for Interrelated Media department, better known as the SIM department. I asked him where I could find Max, and he directed me to the lower level of the south building, also known as “The Crypt”. After going down a set of stairs, I found myself in a tunnel-like hallway. I saw an open door, so I walked toward it and stepped into a room. “Hi I am looking for Max,” I said. “How can I help you?” a male voice responded.

“I’m a DMI student and I would like to reserve The Pozen Center for the Spring of next year.” “Are you the one who made the reservation about two months ago and at the last minute decided to cancel the event? That cancelation cost us 1000 dollars — the amount of money we could have made that day.” Oh shit, here it comes, I thought. All I could think to do was give my apologies and say that I had no idea what he was talking about, but that there must be a logical explanation to why that happened. He told me to fill out a form and get permission from all the SIM students. Apparently, it is not up to the teachers to let people outside of SIM use the Pozen Center, but rather it is up to the students to make the final decision. This is how I found Alex and myself surrounded by a big group of SIM students and teachers on the following Thursday. While waiting in line to describe our show to them, I felt my heart beating faster than ever. What if they think the reasons we give to have our show in their space are not logical enough this time? What if they say no to our request? That would be embarrassing, I thought. While all these things were crossing my mind, our turn to talk came.

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“Hello! My name is Tania Ostorga, and this is Alex Wang, we are graduate students from the DMI program. How many of you know what the DMI program is? Not many I can see, so that’s the reason why we are here today. We want to show MassArt students and the public who we are and what we are doing in our department.”

To my surprise, everybody in the room was paying close attention to everything we were saying. Many of them were curious about the reasons we wanted to have our show in their space. Our small presentation lasted about 3 minutes, and during those few minutes only a few questions were asked of us. However, those 3 minutes felt like an hour, and my hands were sweaty and a big nervous smile never dropped from my face. In the end, the SIM students all voted to let us have our event in The Pozen Center. What a relief! Alex and I thanked everybody and then disappeared into the crowd.

Special thanks to Christopher Field for designing an awesome poster and postcard, and to George Creamer and the MassArt Graduate Department for providing us with helpful guidance and additional, much appreciated Max was not very approachable at first. However, after meeting with him several times, I understood financial support. that it wasn’t a negative quality. It’s just part of who he is and the way he needs to interact with people.

It was just part of the normal interaction between us. Later in the process when we needed his help, he was very gracious, and went out of his way to help us set up and make adjustments at The Pozen Center.

We also had the opportunity to work with Scott Hadley, a SIM undergrad student who is very committed to his work. With his amazing lighting and sound skills, he was able to create the perfect environment for each piece of work. The Pozen Center on March 14th, 2011 turned into a colorful world, full of energy and laughs.

We were extremely lucky to have Lou Susi become part of the plan, too. His presence, experience with shows and enthusiasm made this crazy idea concrete. With Lou on board, we felt we had someone who knew how to get this type of event together at MassArt. We now knew that everything would come together, everything would be ok.

It was Lou’s idea to name the show mediaLuscious, I don’t recall the reasoning behind the name, but I remember the name somehow seemed to fit the vision for the show. He also designed a kick-ass logo for the event. I thought his logo concept with the delicate and curly lines created a harmonic contrast with the nature of the student’s body of work.

The idea of the show was well received by the DMI family. Everybody participated and everybody showed great team spirit during the set up and dismantling of the show. Everybody willingly collaborated to support and help each other every step of the way. From sharing cables and tape, to help soldering wires, setting up screens and help fixing bugs in Processing code. This event wouldn’t have happened without them, and was a great example of the importance of teamwork. We were all striving for the same goal, we all wanted to equally shine on that day, we all wanted the best for our department and peers.

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MEDIA LUSCIOUS documentia 21

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photodocumentation from the origina

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passage Alison Kotin

ent experience

ractive, time-delay sound art instrum

and air as an inte on of Passage — architectural space

Passage is a project about space, time, and presence. It’s also a percussion instrument.

First inspired by a little-used stairwell in MassArt’s Tower building, Passage is designed to draw attention to unnoticed spaces, and to memorialize the presence of people in spaces that are infrequently inhabited. Alerted by users’ arrival in a selected space, a hidden microphone records the sound of footsteps ( which echo in an interesting way ). When the next visitor arrives, their steps are recorded in turn, while the recording of the previous user’s steps also plays.

The experience builds over time so that the first visitor hears only her own footsteps, the second hears two sets of steps, the third three, and so on.

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Curry Mousepath Beta

:: by Heather Shaw ( with Curry College ) 24

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Curry Mousepath Beta Heather Shaw

( with Curry College )

Mousepath by IOGraphica ( http://iographica.com/ ) is a free application that runs in the background and tracks a user’s mouse movements and periods of rest. The lines represent the mouse’s path over the course of a work session, and the circles represent rests ( not clicks ). The Curry College Computer Graphic Design Class ran Mousepath during a long homework session to analyze the patterns of their work. After the students used Mousepath, we interpreted our sessions using Processing by defining the following interpretation: Color = location [ property ]; Line thickness = velocity [ behavior ]; Clicks = action [ function ]. The students defined the language, and the class developed an application in Processing that maps time ( duration ), proximity ( by color ), and velocity ( line thickness ). The rules are driven by algorithm; allowing for delightfully unexpected results.

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spamstream

:: by Christopher Field & Matt Quesada 26

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spamstream Christopher Field & Matt Quesada

SpamStream is an interactive installation using blog comment spam as a content source, exploring the relationship between what we read, see and hear on the internet. Words and phrases were selected from comment spam, spoken aloud, and recorded as audio files. When pressed, the wireless ‘Easy’ button plays a random audio file, with its own visual correspondence on a large projection in the form of an image pulled from Google image search, based on one of seven categories ( Drugs, Religion, Sex, Violence, Money, Entertainment, and Advertising ). The image displays at a random position in the collage and passes through one of ten randomly chosen image filters, resulting an interactive collage of internet imagery that is never the same 27 twice, at once mysterious and familiar.

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dio backdrop effects

lou triggered heavenly au

cessing-built interface

pro through the shrineSounds

skypechrist

:: by lou suSi & Christopher Borden 28

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skypechrist lou suSi & Christopher Borden

skypeChrist confounds the concepts of remote telephonic meeting experience with the religiously significant crucifixion statuette. A set of headphones and a computer microphone visually extend from the suspended crucifix. Gallerygoers that approach or pass by the front of the cross suddenly hear thunderclaps and harps and jetplanes flying by — they also see a magic heavenly light illuminate the crucifix as it seems to hover above the viewer in the black-curtained skypeChrist Booth. Most surprising, however, is the ability to converse with Jesus H Christ through the skypeChrist crucifix telemeeting device. Fun for the whole family.

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:: by Nicole Tariverdian & Maria Stangel & Shan Gao & Daniel Buckley & Kid-Jaturont Jamigranont 30

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telefive Nicole Tariverdian & Maria Stangel & Shan Gao & Daniel Buckley & Kid

TeleFive played on a large format plasma computer monitor during mediaLuscious, nicely encapsulating in video format a collaborative, responsive “game of telephone” between 5 DMI colleagues following one of Professor Gunta Kaza’s legendary instructional prompts, originally entitled “Passage”. Here are Gunta’s instructions, as they were passed along from designer to designer: “I had a dream last night about sending you a blank page. I need you to ‘do’ something with the blank page. Then, add something to it, and send it along to the next person in line.”

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user-centered testing for the hawtSeat Beta in 2010

hawtseat

:: by lou suSi & David TamĂŠs 32

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hawtseat lou suSi & David Tamés

emory foam lou’s original sketch conception for the hawtSeat with audioM

Imagine a chair that holds and dynamically releases the soundScape memories of a romantic interlude. When you first sit down some gentle evening music plays — you hear: quiet conversation; light kissing; whispers. Then, depending on your seated position on the hawtSeat and the number of people seated on the chair, the sound shifts — the music evolves into a porn soundtrack from the late 70s — moans, groans, slapping of skin on skin, more aggressive human vocalizations bordering on animalistic emit from the hawtSeat.

And then, after a bit of time interacting on the sofa, there is an afterGlow mode — new age music and gentle, natural happiness in auditory form.

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:: by Alexander Wang 34

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knock Alexander Wang

Knock is a pair of networked woodpeckers designed to call attention to people from various locations in a virtual network. The working prototype is a set of simply-shaped wooden woodpeckers with a built-in circuit board that can communicate with other ‘Knock’ objects. The concept for this project — to replace the normal virtual ways people call for each other’s attention on the Internet ( e.g. jumping icons, songs or phone rings, pop up windows ) with the more playful and physical interaction of ‘knocking’ with the woodpecker interface.

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interactive resume :: by Saul Baizman 36

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interactive resume Saul Baizman

Interactive Resume is an abstract, XML-based engine and can render anyone’s work history in an elegant and interactive onscreen format. Most of my career prior to Dynamic Media Institute involved developing onscreen experiences, but with my focus and contributions heavily emphasizing the act of coding via HTML, PHP, CSS, Javascript — all the usual suspects. For many years, my work remained entirely invisibile. I grew to want to make work that people would see and understand and be emotionally moved by, and witnessing my working prototype of the Interactive Resume set up and being used by gallery goers out at mediaLuscious — well, it showed me the kind of engaging conversations and genuine face-to-face human interaction a digital installation in a public space can help foster and inspire.

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comfort food

:: by Nicole Tariverdian 38

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comfort food Nicole Tariverdian

The Comfort Food Project investigates handwritten recipes and their attachment to memory, tradition, ritual, and family. This project has grown into various iterations over the past two years, beginning as an interactive installation in April of 2011 that inspired a submission-based blog and archive. Both versions address my ongoing interest in recipes and hand-written recipe cards as artifacts. Recipes can signify a time, ritual or memory. Food is an important part of culture, family history and friends. Personally, food has always brought my family together through physical and cultural distance. It has allowed me to glance into the past and learn traditions from my culture. Comfort Food is still ongoing. You can find out all the latest about Comfort Food and contribute to the archive at http://comfortfoodproject.tumblr.com.

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The Perfect Human 2010 [2.0] :: by Jeff Bartell 40

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The Perfect Human 2010 [2.0] Jeff Bartell

I wanted to create a unique, updated remake of Jorgen Leth’s 1967 film, ‘The Perfect Human’ that would allow multiple users a means to explore the narrative of the original story through both physical and virtual artifacts arranged in a physical space. My participatory, interactive interpretation — called The Perfect Human 2010 [ 2.0 ] — urges the audiences to actively define their own narrative through an experimental, collaborative multimedia experience dispersed across multiple electronic devices. A set of instructions playfully guides the users, and their collective objective is to play the seven discretely different pieces of data — distributed in both audio and video chunks — simultaneously across the separate available platforms. As a group, the participants manipulate the spatial relationships of the sound and images in the room, revealing different nuanced meanings within this physical-virtual database inspired by the narrative of the film.

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rick rubin is a gateway drug

:: by Daniel Buckley & Zach Kaiser & Gabi Shaffzin 42

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rick rubin is a gateway drug Daniel Buckley & Zach Kaiser & Gabi Shaffzin

This gallery installation created the opportunity for users to experience the expansive professional and artistic career of superstar music producer Rick Rubin. Users could pose with an artist of their choice, choosing from a curated visual discography an artist with whom Rubin has worked. Of course, in order to complete the experience, users stood behind an iconic representation of Rubin’s most notable asset, his beard. Via a Python code, our Canon camera shot the photo and immediately uploaded it to our Flickr gallery. We handed out our official Rickrubinisagateway.com business cards to let users locate, download and share their personal Rick Rubinesqued photograph at mediaLuscious as soon as possible. And this shit went viral!

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:: by Kid-Jaturont Jamigranont 44

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duck Kid Jaturont Jamigranont

I wanted to create an interactive sculpture that produces a conflict between our perception and actualization. I purchased a yellow bath sponge shaped like a duck and hid a network of wooden toothpicks inside. As the viewer grabs and squeezes the duck, the wooden toothpicks prick their palm, causing a near-harmless shocking pain. The descrepancy between our perceived expectations and what our actual tactile experience of the Duck inpsires a powerful mental conflict. The yellow bath sponge visually implies a sense of softness, and the shape of the Duck represents childish play and fun, but direct interaction with the Duck creates the total opposite emotional reaction of what we might expect from previously-learned associations with relatively well-understood objects.

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Case No. 70,001 :: by Hao Yaoming 46

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Case No. 70,001 Hao Yaoming

I remember a CNN report that 70,000 children are stolen every year in China, so I decided to design a project called Case No. 70,001. I created a miniature scene to attract viewers to the installation. I set the scene with grass and a dying tree made from a real branch. I also projected a 4 minute long animation on a screen that captured the shadow of the dying tree, nicely incorporating the tree shadow into the projection. Together they told a story of a dying tree living through wind and rain, finally staying alive and growing up. At one point, a child starts swinging under the tree, but suddenly a frightening stranger wearing clown makeup appears and takes the child away. Viewers see the projected animation and shadow of the tree on one side of the screen, and they can also look around, behind the screen, to see the physical miniature setup.

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:: by Joseph Liberty & Tania Ostorga 48

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wtf!

Joseph Liberty & Tania Ostorga

We explored the chaos and anxiety of our inner voices with our sculptural mixed media installation WTF! out at mediaLuscious. We both wrote our thoughts down in ink on an opaque fabric and then overlayed these written passages onto a dome structure we made out of thin strips of glued wood. One by one, viewers watched the looped video projected onto the delicate, handcrafted dome while simultaneously listening on headphones to our audio interpretation of the anxiety and pressure we often intensely feel but can not directly express in a public scenario.

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who is the perfect human? :: by Martha Kucharik Rettig 50

The clinical, cold depiction of what we look like as scientific specimens in Jørgen Leth’s 1967 original film The Perfect Human

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who is the perfect human?

My first interface designs required too many decisions and actions by the user — detracting from the beauty of the film footage. Once I limited the actions to the single gesture of turning the knob, the interaction started to place the focus back on the importance of an individual’s freckles, curls and wrinkles. Users could now better explore the visual content of the video and feel the emotional connection I wanted to inspire through my interactive, participatory commentary of the original film.

Martha Kucharik Rettig

Who is The Perfect Human? is an interactive response to Jørgen Leth’s 1967 film, The Perfect Human. Users re-interpret the film by simply turning a knob to scroll through footage of modern people mimicking scenes from the film. The original film is a black and white narrative describing “the perfect human” in very cold and sterile terms. The two characters of the film are tall, thin, and attractive people, not my idea of “perfection”. I broke the film down into sections that capture human details ( for example, hair, legs, face, nose ) and then reshot the film using real people I know, people of different heights, ages, and colors. I intentionally put the focus back on the importance of an individual’s freckles, curls and wrinkles. I also chose specific locations to evoke more emotions: in a green, lush park; against a gritty-brick wall; in a warm home. The minimal interface let users find new, emotional connections to the film’s content through these different interpretations of what it means to be human. 51

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the punching ball game environment prior to the

show

punching balls :: by Tania Ostorga 52

protective gear provided for your safety

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punching balls Tania Ostorga

lights & shadows & balls, oh my!

y punching balls! everybody wins when they pla

‘Channeling aggression into something positive. Gratification comes from releasing the tension.’

The punching bag project was inspired by the pillow fights I had with my cousin as a kid.

It was born out of my desire to channel my aggression. Participants are invited to stand in front of the beanbags, and then asked to swing the bags towards their opponents while at the same time avoiding being hit. The game tests which opponent delivers the fastest and more violent push — which one is the weakest link — and for how long are they willing to be in that position. However, this game is not just about creating teams of winners or losers — its about letting participants release their aggression by playing with oversize objects and feeling satisfaction afterwards.

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rrReBRaNd

:: by Zachary Kaiser, lou suSi & other DMIrrRz 54

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rrReBRaNd Zachary Kaiser, lou suSi & other DMIrrRz

On the night of the show and throughout the mediaLuscious Review — we proposed to stage several disruptive action-based performances that express some extreme sense of democratically-inspired rebranding anarchy. Smallish groups were to proclaim outlandish announcements throughout the evening, denouncing the current brand of the show and then promoting a new brand concept and design, oftentimes vandalizing the posters and mediaLuscious design components throughout the space, and approaching the action of reBranding with various degrees of aggressive or other cartoonish energies. These micro-performative outbursts never actually came to fruition during the course of the live show, however, we did manage to register the domain name mediaLicio.us and post fake threats to mediaLuscious. A few gallerygoers at the exhibit asked about these strange goings-on with tense enthusiasm.

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feature performance :: by Zach Kaiser aka King Sol 56

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feature performance Zach Kaiser aka King Sol

Zachary Kaiser is a dynamic media designer and artist. Like Steve Lambert, he believes that utopia is a direction — that by designing products, services and environments that embody our ideas about a better world, we can create a better near future. His graduate research at the Dynamic Media Institute at MassArt focuses on exploring the metaphor of learner as DJ in order to inform the design of creative learning experiences and technologies. Zach’s practice ranges from designing and prototyping physical interfaces, to creating user scenarios, to reading foundational psychoanalytic texts.

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SiNuS’ official promotional headShot photography by Christopher Borden

SiNuS BRaDy

additional stand up | no comedy act :: by SiNuS BRaDy

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additional stand up no comedy act SiNuS BRaDy

Stand Up | no comedy — this is SiNuS’ native format for public appearance — a seemingly controversial format that apparently meets with very mixed reviews. The solo onStage monologue and banterings of SiNuS explore that strange membrane between what is funny-strange and what is truly funny. In touching this veryThin veil, there is a tinge of the uncomfortable that comes with the territory — but his material deals with technology, paranoia, mystery, life in a corporation, poetry, email, politics and dreams. His flair for improvised storytelling through descriptions of relatively quotidian, non-events can ofttimes baffle the listener. Parody of infomercials, web and tv advertisements, and the overall empty promise of our advancement through omnipresent technologies permeates 59 the malaise-saturated delivery of SiNuS’ perplexing ‘comedic’ materiality.

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MEDIALUSCIOUS

REFLECTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

Lately, I think a lot about the shows I participated in while conducting my critical design research at Dynamic Media Institute. And I specifically reflect on the gallery shows I collaboratively curated with my colleagues — the new friends I made, the faculty and this wonderful little family we establish through DMI. Putting on a gallery exhibition at MassArt, and probably at any official space for making and showing art and design work, almost instantly establishes a community.

No matter how well you think you might know each other, there’s just something about the intensity of installing such an eclectic body of work in a short timespan in the same space and at the same time that gets you working together — really collaborating in a face-to-face way — like almost no other activity you can imagine. When you’re installing a technical project that involves large-format wall projections from a database of random imagery as programmed over the previous months in Python or some other such alien coding language, and when you need to dynamically create methods of user interaction through something as ridiculously cartoonish as the Staple’s ‘easy button’ mounted to a control podium — well, there’s really nothing easy about it at all.

And its unfathomable and incredibly amazing how quickly a microelectronics-based project that works so well in a studio or lab suddenly presents new issues, challenges and opportunities that need quick and precise decision-making to help successfully adjust the originally-intended experience to the final context of an official exhibition.

As much as my work at DMI focused on creating imaginative alternatives to the way we normally think about the world through an imagined, revolutionary cyberSurreal art movement — nothing quite beats the immediate reality you face in the moments of setting up and putting on an elaborate show like mediaLuscious Design + Art Review in the Pozen Center. The work all suddenly comes alive, we move beyond the presentation of a conceptual idea exploration and we get to see what this shit looks and

feels like in real life. And THAT’s what its all about, right?

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medialuscious D esign + A rt R eview Things can go wrong. They can go horribly wrong. Believe me, I’m the guru of risktaking and can tell you all about the sweet, rotten fruit at the bottom of any really huge failure.

What’s interesting, though, at the end of the day — especially if you care a little less about the results of a project completely matching your original hypothesia — no matter what happens at the show, you learn something. If you think of every installation as a prototype, as opposed to the final product, you might be setting up the safety mechanism we all need to rely upon as human beings attempting to design the future through dynamic media.

Or maybe you’re not trying to design the future after all. Maybe you’re just trying to understand where we are, who we are, why we are the way we are as a people living and breathing in a semi-selfinvented technohumanic continuum. Its difficult to catch up with all of this progress, right? And what better way to analyze our situation than through mediated sociological observation?

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Take a look at some of the photodocumentation included in this exhibition I learned a LOT about catalog. You’ll see glimpses of what we all experienced that night, Saturday, March 5, 2011. You’ll see the way designers, artists and other gallerygoers putting on a gallery look at the work on display. There’s a certain wonderment and awe on our faces exhibition by just as we look at glowing screens, projections and objects on a pedestal. We cluster around a monitor and peer over each other’s shoulders and sometimes we help doing it. I fully each other out or converse about an onscreen experience. When Zach takes the believe in this stage, we stand in a larger group and watch the spectacle of the DJ creating live, improvised and curated music, turning the space into a party zone. Grown adults methodology. suddenly devolve back into the mindset and behavior of mischievous, rowdy children as they play with Tania Ostorga’s pendulous Punching Balls — a masterful centerpiece of the exhibition that delves into aggression, play and the personal permission systems we set up and dissemble depending upon our social context. And then, at the other extreme, Alexander Wang’s ambient woodpeckers gently communicate the subtle indication of a distant presence through gestural interaction — the Knock we facilitate on one side of the gallery creates a nuanced simultaneous animation of the physical partner object on the other side.

We embedded a certain psychology in all of the projects shown out at mediaLuscious. And then through sociological investigation of the work through post-analysis of the show and of all of our designs, we develop a new depth regarding our understanding of what these technologies and new experiences could actually mean — both hypothetically ( in the moment ) and practically ( projecting out, into the future ). We make, we share, we learn. And then hopefully we continue making, continue sharing, continue to learn and grow and understand — and then create new depth to consider and explore.

I’d like to end with a quick note about the value of photodocumentation. I learned a LOT about putting on a gallery exhibition by just doing it. I fully believe in this methodology. You learn so much along the way, no matter what. By co-curating Provocative Objects at the Doran Gallery with David Tamés back in the Autumn of 2010, I learned the importance of photodocumentation. Capturing video can help, too. But getting quality photo imagery of the work in the space at the time of the exhibition is extremely important to me. Think about it. Tania, Alex and I sort of copy-pasted some of the gameplan from Provocative Objects, the most important piece, though, in retrospect, was assigning Andrew Ellis as the official documentarian for the show. Without the amazing images from the show as you see them here in this catalog, we couldn’t effectively communicate how utterly fantastic this exhibit turned out. Look at it. mediaLuscious, as captured in this catalog, tells our story. It shows other MassArt students and the general public who we are at Dynamic Media Institute as students, colleagues and an extended family — and it shows you not only the kind of work we’re exploring through design, but also starts to convey what we’re thinking about as interdisciplinary designers and artists, how we’re thinking about it and why this work is so vital and relevant to the world we’re living in today.

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ABOUT MEDIALUSCIOUS On Saturday, March 5, 2011, mediaLuscious Design + Art Review featured the eclectic, forward-thinking prototypes and simulations from MassArt’s MFA Graduate Design students at Dynamic Media Institute. Showcased at Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s amazing Pozen Center, the exhibition included a vast array of work, including: immersive video and sound installations; performance art; onscreen interface design; dynamic narrative; and interactive gaming scenarios.

Co-curated by Dynamic Media Institute’s Tania Ostorga, Alex Wang and lou suSi — the mediaLuscious show included the works of Alison Kotin, David Tamés, Saul Baizman, Daniel Buckley, Nicole Tariverdian, Jeff Bartell, Maria Stangel, Zach Kaiser, Gabi Shaffzin, Hao Yaoming, Chris Field, Joseph Liberty, Andrew Ellis, Tania Ostorga, Martha Kucharik Rettig, Alex Wang, lou suSi, Heather Shaw with Curry College, Shan Gao, and Kid Jaturont Jamigranont — with guest collaborations by Matt Quesada and Christopher Borden.

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ABOUT DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE is the future-forward thinking graduate design program at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Students at DMI leverage the latest new media technologies to transform seemingly ordinary objects and traditional artworks into innovative, experimental interfaces exploring the future of communication and designed participatory experience. Graduates of DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE earn an MFA in DESIGN by: conducting critical design and academic research; prototyping and actively designing physical and virtual work; and writing, designing and producing a design thesis book that contributes to the future of art, design, technology and society.

The Dynamic Media Institute explores the role and possibilities of dynamic media in communication design. Each student’s unique vision and passion for design develops into an original body of ideas and fresh practice.

Students come to DMI from diverse educational backgrounds and disciplines: architects, industrial designers, programmers, engineers, filmmakers, musicians, anthropologists, photographers, fine artists, and graphic designers. The student body reflects the program’s cross-disciplinary approach to dynamic media design.

Admission to the DMI program is highly selective, enrolling eight to ten students each year. Students come from all over the world including Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, Venezuela, and the United States.

The 60-credit MFA program is offered in three tracks: a two-year track in four semesters; a three-year track in five semesters; or a three-year track in six semesters, the only difference being the distribution of elective credits. DMI also offers a one-year fellowship “non-matriculating track” to which candidates are accepted based on specific project proposals.

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ABOUT MASSART Born of a pioneering spirit, MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN is the nation’s first independent public college of art and design — and the first art school to grant a degree.

MassArt’s founders dared to imagine a better future for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to believe the path to it lay in creativity. Their goal in establishing the Massachusetts Normal Art School was to educate students in the creative process, which would in turn lead to the development of the mind, body, and spirit.

The institution they created was dedicated to producing drawing teachers required in schools throughout the commonwealth, while at the same time training professional artists, designers, and architects. It proudly opened its doors in 1873 to anyone with talent and the will to succeed — at a time when access for everyone was all too uncommon.

True to its history, MassArt continues to envision all that is possible and strives to reach it. Our history sets the direction for our future.

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ABOUT THE CURATORS TaniA Ostorga is an Interactive Visual Designer living and working in Austin, Texas.

She earned her AA from San Antonio College, a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from MassArt’s DMI graduate program in design and dynamic media. Her DMI thesis explores the tension and boundaries between playfulness and aggression through a series of multi-sensory objects and games.

Read Tania’s DMI Thesis ‘Playful Aggression’ http://www.coroflot.com/Tania_Ostorga/Playful-Aggression-Thesis-Book1 lou suSi is an accomplished designer focused on ux, design education, curation, performance, dynamic media, humor and cyberSurrealism. He earned a BA in Fine Art from University of Massachusetts at Lowell and an MFA from MassArt’s Dynamic Media Institute. His DMI thesis explores the uncanny valley between humor and laughter through dynamic media and performance art.

See an slightly unfair teaser of lou’s DMI Thesis ‘confounded: future fetish design performance for human advocacy’ up on Blurb at: http://www.blurb.com/b/2779835-confounded Alexander Wang is an interaction designer and consultant whose personal and professional work spans from traditional communications in static and temporal media to computational design and physical/digital interface. He earned a BFA in Economics from National Chungchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, an MA in Industrial Design from Savannah College of Art and Design and an MFA in Interaction Design from Dynamic Media Institute.

Currently, Alex is a User Experience Designer at Amazon.

Alex’s DMI thesis ‘Ambient Dialogue’ explores the design and development of physical interfaces for interpersonal communication over distance.

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CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT FLAP current students, faculty and legendary alumni that make up this international family of innovative, interdisciplinary, creative thinkers.’

‘Alex Wang, co-curator of the show elaborates further, ‘This is a great chance to bring our work to life. Its inspiring to see an audience playing with our creations, and a bit unpredictable. Each student brings their unique professional backgrounds and personality to DMI and it shows in exhibits like mediaLuscious.’

Co-curated by The Dynamic Media Institute’s Tania Ostorga, Alex Wang and lou suSi — the mediaLuscious show included the works of Alison Kotin, David Tamés, Daniel Buckley, Nicole Tariverdian, Jeff Bartell, Maria Stangel, Zach Kaiser, Chris Field, Joseph Liberty, Andrew Ellis, Tania Ostorga, Alex Wang and lou suSi.

ABOUT DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE is the future-forward thinking graduate design program at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Students at DMI leverage the latest new media technologies to transform seemingly ordinary objects and traditional artworks into innovative, experimental interfaces exploring the future of communication and designed participatory experience. Graduates of DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE earn an MFA in DESIGN by: conducting critical design and academic research; prototyping and actively designing physical and virtual work; and writing, designing and producing a design thesis book that contributes to the future of art, design, technology and society.

MEDIA LUSCIOUS DESIGN + ART REVIEW

DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE

MARCH 5, 2011

POZEN CENTER MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

FEATURING WORK BY

SAUL BAIZMAN JEFF BARTELL DANIEL BUCKLEY ANDREW ELLIS CHRISTOPHER FIELD SHAN GAO ZACH KAISER KID ALISON KOTIN JOSEPH LIBERTY TANIA OSTORGA MARTHA KUCHARIK RETTIG HEATHER SHAW ( with CURRY COLLEGE ) MARIA STANGEL LOU SUSI DAVID TAMES NICOLE TARIVERDIAN ALEXANDER WANG & HAO YAOMING

FEATURE PERFORMANCES BY ZACH KAISER aka KING SOL & SINUS BRADY