fourth dimension

"The third bridge between design and science fiction is based on the postulate of the existence of a fourth dimension, that of time, which, when associated with the other three dimensions, becomes a gateway to a parallel world. Breaches in space-time may be found through these “wormholes”, teleportation doors and other black holes. Neither anticipation nor prediction nor retro-future, these parallel worlds are juxtaposed with present reality." (image:AntFarm) via egodesign.com

the new public

“It depends upon the passer-by
Whether I am tomb or treasure trove,
Whether I speak or remain silent,
That is due to you alone:
Friend, enter not without desire.”
Paul Valéry (arts & societies)

open work

"The poetics of the “work in movement”... sets in motion a new cycle of relations between the artist and his audience, a new mechanics of aesthetic perception, a different status for the artistic product in contemporary society. It opens a new page in sociology and in pedagogy, as well as a new chapter in the history of art. It poses new practical problems by organizing new communicative situations. In short, it installs a new relationship between the contemplation and the utilization of a work of art." Umberto Eco, “The Poetics of the Open Work” (via "Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics" by Claire Bishop)

surveillance

"Surveillance cameras by necessity record interzones, the hot spots where crime might breed or deviance might spontaneously generate, in locations beyond the reach of our unenhanced optic nerves, or where everything and everyone has simply shut up shop. Business parks at night, city squares cast in gloomy shadow, empty swimming pools, the hooded entrances of hospitals, the city-like scale of airport perimeters, motorway feeder roads where human interaction is factored out of the landscape and the only transaction occurs between speed and machinery. Ballard’s work precisely records such territory, a rich topography inset with mysterious ley lines, weaving a grid to support shadowy lifestyles enacted far away from mainstream thought." Simon Sellars , ballardian.com SurveillanceSaver

concrete island

"As we drive across a motorway intersection, through the elaborately signalled landscape that seems to anticipate every possible hazard, we glimpse triangles of waste ground screened off by steep embankments. What would happen if, by some freak mischance, we suffered a blow-out and plunged over the guard-rail onto a forgotten island of rubble and weeds, out of sight of the surveillance cameras?" J.G. Ballard, Introduction to Concrete Island, 1994

lab[au]

"Instead of considering this infrastructure as a flat screen (surface) displaying pre-rendered video loops, the project is working on the architectural characteristics of the tower and its urban context. The characteristics of the building; orientation, volume, scale... are used as parameters to set up a spatial, temporal and luminous concept, which moreover allows people to directly interact with the tower.." www.lab-au.com

surveillance

"Researchers and security companies are developing cameras that not only watch the world but also interpret what they see. Soon, some cameras may be able to find unattended bags at airports, guess your height or analyze the way you walk to see if you are hiding something..... "If you think of the camera as your eye, we are using computer programs as your brain", said Patty Gillespie, Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Md. Today, the military funds much of the smart-surveillance research." Associated Press, msnbc

big shadow

"Shadows of the participants movements are projected upon a massive wall of a building, 7-stories high. When participants perform particular actions such as raising their arms over their heads, a giant dragon shadow appears out of the participants' shadows."

remix

"Remixability becomes practically a built-in feature of digital networked media universe. In a nutshell, what maybe more important than the introduction of a video iPod, a consumer HD camera, Flickr, or yet another exiting new device or service is how easy it is for media objects to travel between all these devices and services - which now all become just temporary stations in media’s Brownian motion." Lev Manovich

interception

"A surveillance camera being used to monitor public space was hijacked and reinstalled in a subway station. The camera was used intentionally to broaden consciousness concerning the problem of increasing lack of privacy. People entering and exiting the station were tracked by the camera,and their “capture” was projected on a station wall. The action was illegal." Roch Forowicz, via rhizome

the logo

There is a growing relationship between the corporate logo and the religious symbol. Each symbol proposes a direct relationship with the entity that it represents. Mutilation of that representation is strictly prohibited. Whereas simply representing religious iconography can result in death, the use and abuse of a corporate logo can lead to innumerable lawsuits, bouts of unemployment and banishment to the fringe of capitalist culture. (photo courtesy of rhizome.org)

gesture

"Artist Christian Jankowski... noticed a Hula-Hooper practicing regularly on a rooftop across from his apartment on Division Street. He rang her doorbell; she introduced him to other practitioners, and a performance piece was born, with performers sharing coordinated gestures from blocks away. Whatever you call the results ­ art, aerobics, dance ­ it was one of the most thrilling sights I’ve seen in the city all year, and one of the most poignant. The choreographer Trisha Brown did a similar piece, minus Hula-Hoops, on the rooftops of SoHo just before that neighborhood was effectively lost to artists." Holland Cotter, NYtimes

the culinary event

"The meal was open to just 40 people. They had to sign up before they could learn the address, that of a vacant bank in this city’s industrial-chic Georgetown neighborhood. Inside, a video projection played an endless loop of two women kissing. Diners sat at a long table lighted by votive candles and covered with a tablecloth made of blouses from the Salvation Army. As they passed dishes from “The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook,” guests read aloud from Gertrude Stein’s “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.” David Hochman, NYtimes

walter murch

"On every film I try to think as deeply as I can about the implied acoustic space of each scene; I then try to tailor the reverberant quality of the sound, and the tonality, to the spaces that we’re looking at. It’s endlessly fascinating, particularly because this technique flies “below the radar” of the audience. The filmmaker can have an effect on the audience without the audience knowing where that effect is coming from. Which I would guess is something that architects enjoy playing with, too." Walter Murch, on BLDGBLOG... 4/6/07

winer and karwas

"WA is a site-specific video installation created for Knoll InternationalGabriel Winer and Dana Karwas. Large-scale architectural projections turn the existing seventeenth century facade into a drive-by cinema and pedestrian spectacle."

interface

"Interactive computer music improvisation duo -interface- creates sonic textures ranging from delicate imperceptible noise to a high energy wall of sound. They have extended, surrounded, and obscured their electric stringed instruments with a variety of technologies, creating an organic, gesturally powerful computer music." arts.rpi,edu/crb