Looking Outwards: Final Project

Audience – rAndom International with Chris O’Shea

Audience consists of a set of robotic mirrors that orient themselves to face an individual that steps near them. I really enjoy how much character these machines have. Seeing them move with and without a target makes them seem easy to interact with, and audience members clearly also have this sentiment. Their semi-random placement coupled with their low placement help with placing the viewer in an imaginative space.

I would say that the mirrors themselves seems too small and disparate to be engaging, and that their movement can be slightly uncanny at times.

Pulse Machine – Alicia Eggert & Alexander Reben

Pulse Machine is an artwork with a lifespan. it consists of a drum that kicks at 60 bpm, and a counter which started with enough beats for the piece to ‘live’ for 78 years. Each beat takes off 1 from the counter, and the drum stops when the counter hits 0.

This is a strange insight into humanity, or at least what makes a life. It’s a simple comment on cause and effect in existence, playing with inevitability, and, to an extent, fate.

I think that the drum itself may is a slightly jarring element.

Collected Works – Zimoun

Zimoun works around a central theme of creating physical and audio spaces out of simple forms and machines on a huge scale. There is a simple power to these pieces, and they speak well in relation to each other as a series. I also like the element of directed randomness in this piece almost meditative. Seeing the machines stop is also powerful

I do have to say that I would like to see more variance in the work.

Skylines III: Point Cloud City – Patricio Gonzales Vivo

Skylines are a series of 3D renderings made of the landscapes of major cities. This video is a flythrough of one of these renderings. I think that this way of representing a city street is wonderful, and the scale and approach of the camera’s view makes the scene seems more imaginative, magical almost. It’s an excellent example of environment building.

I would really like to see something done with this technology rather than a simple demonstration of a city.