Technology has changed art, and this is what it looks like !

           "A major new exhibition looks at technology's effect on the creative arts  "  

An interactive exhibit that allows visitors to wave their arms and see how Inception's physics-defying spacial effects were created. 

Pyramidi is the work of Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki and will.i.am. It features a trio of robotic instruments and the exhibit is accompied by a visualiztion of will.i.am that appears to follow you around the room. 

                                                                                                                                                                                           
              London's Barbican Centre will host the Digital Revolution this summer which is a new exhibition that is designed to explore the impact of technology on art over the past forty years. The exhibition begins with a gallery called "Digital Archaeology" which highlights the key moments in the UK technological awakening, featuring rows of ancient machines such as the Magnavox Odyssey, the Speak & Spell, an original Pongcabinet, and a Linn LM-1 Drum Machine. This exhibit is then followed by a section focusing on the changes in film making as a result of technological advance in computing with  looks at Inception, Gravity, and How To Train Your Dragon 2.

The Treachery of Sanctuary by Chris Milk uses Kinect cameras and 3D graphics to form modern takes on shadow play. His exhibit is broken into three sections exploring birth, death and transfiguration. 

                             
The next showcase features a number of works from contemporary artsist and entertainers culminating in a spectacular interactive laser exhibit from Umbrellium. Included in the exhibit is a new collaboration between Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki and will.i.am, four interactive pieces from Google's DevArt project, and a small area showing indie games.

"The show is really artist-led, but also looks at technology, and the technology stories that are very important to the show as it progresses," curator Conrad Bodman tells The Verge."It's the first show of its kind in the UK that explores the idea of digital creativity quite holistically."

The "Petting Zoo" entices visitors to play with playful robotic arms. 

Umbrellium's exhibit is set in a pitch black room and uses lasers to turn the entire floor into a canvas. Visitors can "grab" a laser and draw their own artwork on the floor. 

                                   

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/3/5867225/digital-revolution-barbican-london-exhibition-photo-essay  

Microworld Of Susumu Nishinaga

Japanese artist and microscopist Susumu Nishinaga captures micro-worlds of blood vessels, insects, flowers and other biological specimens

            

           

           

           

His photographs are taken with a Scanning Electron Microscope also known as SEM. This interesting approach to photography brings the world of science into a new artistic forefront. The innovative use of current technology combined with the artistic eye managed to produce some stunning pieces that are mainly microscopic close ups of different organic material. 

                       

SEM's have the capability to magnify objects up to one million times. This development of technology has allowed not only scientific discoverers but has now opened up a whole new field of artistic expression. The field of macrophotography has exploded in recent years with new additions to the technology exposing the microscopic world.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/opinion/art-and-technology.html

Apple Watch Review: Bliss, but Only After a Steep Learning Curve

The Apple watch has now been made accessible to the general public and has been met with mixed reviews. Unlike most of Apple's previously mass sold technology, the Apple watch is not suited for technological novices. It has a steep learning curve that involves a lot of tweaking of software and settings in order for the watch to sufficiently serve peoples desired needs. 
                          


        But, regardless of peoples ability to alter the foundations of he technology behind the watch, consumers have noted that there is just enough success to encourage companies such as Apple to continue in the field of wearable technology. The watch allows us to take a step back from our phone screens. It allows a quick glance at texts and notifications instead of a prolonged search on ones phone. 
        The watch suggests a lot of potential, but it remains vastly different then an actual iPhone on ones wrist. It has a different set of input mechanisms.There is no full screen,so voice command is necessary. This means that there is an increased reliance of SiRi, who often gets things right just as much as she gets them wrong. There is a different software design then the phone and remains different from the iPhones we are use to using every day.  The Apple Watch had much predicted success and has seen limited. It will remain to be seen if wearable technology becomes a mass consumed idea. 

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/technology/personaltech/apple-watch-bliss-but-only-after-a-steep-learning-curve.html?ref=technology&_r=0

Quentin Shih: Utilizing Modern Technology in the Art of Photography

Memories (of the 80s)

Quetntin Shih is a New York/Beijing based modern photographer whose work is published in many editorial magazines. He works on personal projects as well as private commissions. His photographs do not adhere to the tradition standards of photography and often portray strange images or unique lighting styles. But, without the use of modern technological advances in camera and editing technology, Shih's work would not exist. 

The Stranger in the Glass Box

Shih was born in Tianjin and was a self taught artist. He was later named photographer of the year by Esquire (China) in 2007 and has since accumulated dozens of major international partners.  He has worked with Dior, Christian Louboutin, Adidas, Microsoft, and Nokia (just to name a few!) Much of his photography pushes the envelope to expose certain cultural and political issue that are present in Asian culture. His portrayed images are both provocative and compelling, many of which portray aspects of cultural revolution as well as unacceptable/uncommon cultural representations. Yet his work would not exists without the complex tools now available to modern photographers both in the field of editing and digital alteration as well in the physical camera itself. 

Source: https://news.artnet.com/people/quentin-shihs-photographs-capture-fake-luxury-and-true-communism-236233

Technology and Art: Engineering the future

"Think art. What comes to mind? Maybe Picasso, Rodin, Dali.Now think technology - and you'll probably imagine a smartphone or a computer. Throughout history, technology has provided artists with new tools for expression."

Art and technology have become interlinked more than ever as technology has become a fundamental force in the development and evolution of art.

Thanks to new technology artists everywhere are developing new and original forms of art. 

Photographer Spencer Tunick is famous for his images of naked people

They are pushing the boundaries and looking outside the originally perceived "traditional" art forms. 

Art is becoming less and taking up many new shapes, from printing digitally created sculptures in 3D to flash-mobs to photographers lining up hundreds of naked volunteers on the beach.

Power of the web

Artist Ollie Palmer has created a machine to control the way synthetic pheromone directs ants - hoping this way to stage an 'ant ballet'

"Modern ways in which art is created, produced, distributed, marketed, preserved and supported have shifted as a direct reaction of the world's transition to a socially connected, digital society - to the age of the internet."

Traditionally, artists have been going to a gallery in order to share their artwork with the world. Now a few clicks on the webs and everyone can see it at their leisure. Services such as crowdfunding allow for artists to raise money online in order to pursue their ideas.

Sculptures created on a 3D printer look very different from what is known as "traditional" art

What is changing and probably - arguably - for the worse is that it is now easier to create "art". As a result of this, people are exposed to a lot more "bad" art being created. It is concerning that with this much dilution in the world of art we will loose our capacity to evaluate great art.

Every year, tinkerers, engineers and tech enthusiasts display their home-brewed art and technology projects at the World Maker Faire

Art and technology have always been interrelated, but now they are linked more than ever before

The essential goal of contemporary art is to choose art with new technologies should not  "extract" meaning from the technological platform, but rather use it as a base for new bold directions.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-19576763

How Technology Is Changing the Museum Experience

Museums are recently beginning to explore digital and mobile technologies in order to enhance visitors experience. They have gone beyond an added exhibits and installations, but also include more pervasive uses of technology to create interactive experiences for visitors. In addition they have also created remote experiences for individuals who cannot manage to physically visit the museums.

The Smithsonian is the  leader in the space of digital and mobile technology. I has everything from “traditional” cellphone tours and mobile apps to crowd-sourcing in order to create interactive gaming and even augmented reality. The head of mobile strategy and initiatives at the Smithsonian, Nancy Proctor, has published many articles on the topic of mobile in museums. She has even been cited by other museums as a main source of learning and inspiration on the topic and the expansion of technology as a source of enhancing the museum experience.

The Smithsonian has an array of mobile apps:
Infinity of Nations: created for the National Museum of African Indians and provides English and Spanish mobile tours, and includes slideshows and video in versions for both children and adults. 
Yves Klein-With the Void, Full Powers: provides an overview and insights into select art pieces with hi-res images, video, audio and quotes directly from the artist.
Set in Style: an iPad application which showcases 65 of the 350 objects on view in an exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, including jewels, timepieces, and fashion accessories by Van Cleef & Arpels. 
Artists in Dialogue 2: made for the National Museum of African Art, provides a mobile tour in English and Brazilian Portuguese, led by curator Karen Milbourne and the artists.

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/09/14/high-tech-museums/

Electric Sheep

Electric Sheep is a distributed computing project for animating and evolving fractal flames, which are in turn distributed to the networked computers, which display them as a screensaver.

The casual user can simply install the software as a screensaver. Alternatively, the user may become more involved with the project, manually creating a fractal flame file for upload to the server. It is than rendered into a video file of the animated fractal flame. As the screensaver entertains the user, their computer is also used for rendering commercial projects, sales of which keep the servers and developers running.
The Name "Electric Sheep" comes from the title of Philip K. Dick's novel Do Andriod's Dream of Electric Sheep? 
The idea is that the computers (androids) run screen savers when not in use rendering "dreams," the fractal movies (sheep).

The parameters that generate these movies (sheep) can be created in a few ways:
They can be created and submitted by members of the electric sheep mailing list, members of the mailing list can download the parameters and tweak them
Or sheep can be mated together automatically by the server or manually
Users may vote on sheep that they like or dislike, and this voting is used for the genetic algorithm which generates new sheep.
 Each movie is a fractal Flame with several of its parameters animated. 

Source: http://www.techasart.org/Artists.html