In code and 3D models, in live visual performance and augmented architecture and dance, in VJ sets and futuristic 3D demos, shows and games, visualism extended to new ways of transforming perception. For just one slice of what happened this year, entirely by the numbers, here are the stories that scored the most page views in 2011 – not necessarily the most significant stories, but those that ranked largest in traffic, which to me is at least an interesting metric in terms of what garners the greatest attention and audience.
Let us know your favorite stories from 2011, too, on CDM or elsewhere. And see where your musical counterparts’ eyeballs went, too, on Create Digital Music.
A bit behind on your music video watching for 2011, or want to revisit some moments?
Renier Mouthaan mixes together music videos of the past year, along with some news, in case you forgot which year this was. (I forgive you.) I’m always impressed by the completionist impulse in this sort of work; it’s not the sort of thing I’d, uh, tackle. It may also be the only time Skrillex videos make it onto CDM.
What are your favorite videos of 2011? Let us know in comments, and perhaps we can kick of 2012 with more visual inspiration.
The full listing is on Vimeo (editorial selections by Renier, not CDM), along with 2010 and 2009 selections for wistful remembrance.
In a stunning, surreal set of tests, our friends at Bologna, Italy-based Apparati Effimeri are using stereoscopy and projection mapping to muck with the fabric of what you perceive in a garden or architecture. The results would make Dali go buy a six pack of beamers. There’s little to say other than to have a look, but here’s their description:
A week of video projections and tests to experience the 3D stereoscopic technology applied to mapping, first-hand. The Apparati Effimeri collective came back to studio aware of the huge possibilities that the stereoscopic tool can offer to mapping technique. In addition to the by this time “classic” mapping on architectures, the video projection was realized directly inside a garden. There are, needless to say, Infinitive potentialities. Coming soon this report will be available for stereoscopic vision directly on your 3D Monitor.
We’ll be watching, you infinitive potentialities, you.
And yes, they’re right in line with my idea of projection mapping as the ultimate in Neo-Baroque aesthetics:
Apparati Effimeri work in the field of Visual Design, experimenting the possibility to create new links between the past history of human vision and contemporary techniques and approaches to visual art.
The project started in 2008 in Bologna with the focus on bringing up to date the idea of displays typical of the parties in the past, especially during the Baroque period.
Then: flat, rectangular displays. Now: projection mapping flat images to 3D objects. Next: volumetric displays.
From New York’s Chelsea neighborhood come two very inventive visual projects, opening in January.
Matt Parker, veteran of New York University’s ITP brain-building program (don’t ask what it stands for), leads research at NYC’s Eyebeam in some seriously-cool volumetric display tech. With the addition of Kinect, it takes on a human element. And an upcoming DIY kit means you’ll soon be able to build one of these yourself.
Lumarca is a truly volumetric display which allows viewers to see three dimensional images and motion. The system requires only a computer, a projector, and common materials found at most hardware stores. This provides an affordable platform for artists to design compelling content that conveys information, narrative, and aesthetic information in a new way. Lumarca is a collaboration between Albert Hwang, Matt Parker, and Elliot Woods.
Parker and Hwang are working now at the Eyebeam research center. Their work will open on January 12 in a new show there. Eyebeam’s Wiley Aker explains:
It’s a volumetric display, allowing visitors to see three-dimensional digital animations in real 3d space. The installation, made of a computer, a projector, and common materials found at most hardware stores, provides an affordable platform for artists to design compelling content that conveys 3d information and narrative in a new aesthetic way.
But wait – there’s more. Parker also has a Processing-powered piece called MahungArt up in the window in January.
Mama said there’d be days like these. You know… floating in a bikini by the Hubble. Been there. Image: GIFPUMPER.
And also part of the Jan 12 opening is GIFPUMPER, by resident Slava Balasanov, which Aker tells us is “basically a collaborative, real-time website for creating 3d, animated GIF mashups.” Of course it is. The image above gives you some taste of the resulting mayhem. (For now, invite required. Ask nicely.)
As 2011 winds down, here’s a good end-of-the-year resolution: get your showreel together – or get some inspiration from others. Our friend James Cui (VJ Fader) put together his latest reel. Based in LA but working internationally, he’s been a very busy guy, working with Processing and Max/MSP and Jitter to code custom solutions, from touchscreens to projection mapping to event visuals to interactive work to Kinect. I could say more, but the video does a better job.
Description:
Fader’s visual projects of 2011, featuring Kryoman, Claus e Vanessa, Rock-it! Scientists, Oidem, Mandy Mozart, and VJ Leo.
(Don’t worry if you didn’t catch any of those names he just dropped – there’s plenty to stimulate the eyes.)
By the way, think you can do better – or, simply, want to share work that’s your own and different? I get loads of showreels in our inbox, but keep them coming. I can’t cover everything, but even knowing you’re out there makes a difference, so don’t be shy, and don’t be frustrated if I don’t respond. (That inbox is a mighty noisy place, but I’m watching!)
There is a time of year when the short days, hours of travel (this time over some 8000 km in the air), and holiday season make me want to post silly, insubstantial things. This is one of those posts.
But, let me make some attempt at profundity:
1. Microcontrollers have put interactive lighting in the hands of even the festive home decorator. It’s true. (the rig here is “two computers and 10 Light-o-rama 16 channel controllers”)
2. Consider, ye who make mobile designs, the profound cultural impact these things have. Once reserved for blockbuster movies, and before that the spoken fairy tales and lore sung over campfires, uh … sorry, I’m getting carried away. Yeah, these “apps” are sure huge. Next:
3. The most interesting detail here to me is this: the creator says each game costs less than one cent of electricity. Massive electrical bills are usually the punchline when looking at projects like this. But LED lighting really is the future.
And that third point is the big one. Having just flown back and forth over the planet too many times, I’m certainly not helping stem the tide of global warming (so to speak). But the LED-laden future of lighting may be a bright one for the environment, and for visualists, one in which lumens cost less in environmental impact and electricity consumption.
With 20,000 lights in this rig, that’s no small matter. There’s been nothing short of a quiet revolution in lighting, and it means that for those of us who work with light as a medium, the future gets better, rather than worse.
And that makes me feel warmer this holiday season than anything else. Let there be light.
If you’re already in holiday mode, sapped by the shortest day of the year (at least if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere), and looking to kick back with some audiovisual stimulation, this should do the trick. (I know it appeals to me, after 15 hours crossing the Atlantic yesterday.)
The radio show Solid Steel regularly features AV mixes; this one comes via DK and the label Ninja Tune. On the superb German electronic site Partysan: ‘Cymatic Frequencies’ an Audio Visual mix by DK
We start where we ended the last AV mix with the anthemic ‘Hyph Mngo’ by Joy Orbison and a few choice words from Sun Ra. We continue in a future vein with the Eliphino Remix for Kidkanevil, Maddslinky given a Toddla T lick, and the heavy ‘Work them’ by Ramadanman.
Then it’s a Ninja Tune trio and a Big Dada double, James Blake floating over the Altrice remix of Caribou, before turning up the bass to 11 for Bassnectar. The beats stay heavy as we skip through George Lenton and the Jamie XX remix of Gil Scott-Heron, an ‘old skool hip hop’ trio, mixed with RackNRuin and Vent for extra dance floor punch, and it’s a D n B finish with the DJ Marky remix of ‘Wile Out’ by Zinc, Sunny by James Brown tweaked by Featurecast and we end on the sublime Flying Lotus remix for Andreya Triana.
Peter Kirn
Jaymis Loveday
Matt Ganucheau
toby
joshue ott
michaeluna
vade
dan-winckler
Momo The Monster
songcarver
dj-rndm
nathanal-lcaud
christian.ryan
craig-dorety
Surya Buchwald
Kyle McDonald
Annapurna Kumar
Sofy Yuditskaya