Tech artist?

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Christopher Baker, Murmur Study, Installation view, Art(ists) On the Verge, Weisman Art Museum. Photo: Rik Sferra

Christopher Baker, Murmur Study, Installation view, Art(ists) On the Verge, Weisman Art Museum. Photo: Rik Sferra

I can’t help but wonder when we will be able to stop writing about the art formerly known as new media primarily in terms of its technology – or how much it costs. Nevertheless, Christopher Baker, a recent Art(ists) On the Verge grantee received his due in a nice round up in City Pages: “Twin cities arts buzz: Meet the creatives and their productions.”

“Nobody loves contemporary networked life more than Christopher Baker. ‘I would absolutely love it if the internet could be truly “free,”‘ the Minneapolis-based new-media artist emails from Hungary. ‘Free of censorship, free of bandwidth restrictions, free of cost, accessible to all, environmentally free, free of the political influence and the weight of capitalism. At the same time, I think it’s extremely important the people realize that it isn’t.’

Christopher Baker, HPVS (Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome), Installation view, Art(ists) On the Verge, Weisman Art Museum. Photo: Rik Sferra

Christopher Baker, HPVS (Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome), Installation view, Art(ists) On the Verge, Weisman Art Museum. Photo: Rik Sferra

“Baker isn’t just talking out of his beret. This year alone, his web-intensive installations and public works have appeared everywhere from the Weisman to art-tech crucible Kitchen Budapest, where the artist finishes a yearlong residency next month—leaving him just enough time to prepare for the November 20 opening of his first Franklin Art Works solo exhibition. With eight shows in locales ranging from Barnsley, U.K., to Fargo, North Dakota, scheduled for the next six months, the poor devil might perish of exhaustion if not for automation.”

via City Pages

Chris’s work is important – and often mesmerizing – for what it says about the human condition, not because he is a “tech artist,” regardless of how facile.

“Video of the Day: Digital Small Talk”

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Chris Baker’s Murmur Study was tagged as “video of the day” by Flavorwire.

Murmur Study from Christopher Baker on Vimeo.

Murmur Study, along with Baker’s HPVS is part of an exhibition of “Art(ists) On the Verge” Avye Alexandres, Aniccha Arts, Kevin Obsatz, Andrea Steudel, Krista Kelley Walsh and their work commissioned by Northern Lights with support from the Jerome Foundation, which is on exhibit at the Weisman Art Museum through August 23.

Good work…”

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“Anyway, I had my metaphorical books open until I moved over to the Artists on the Verge exhibition. It changed the channel in my head, and I felt like someone had nudged me gently awake. All of the artwork necessitated involvement of people in some way (way to go new wave of contemporary art! I like you more than the movements 5 years ago!) which got me thinking about how we, museum people, have sometimes layered the audience experience on top of the artwork. To help inspire or explain if it was more difficult to get at. Why this exhibition seemed so effortless in that respect, was because the viewer was primary to the artwork itself. Of course I felt like I had been woken up! The artwork wanted me to. It needed me to.”

via I am almost always on time

Opening reception Art(ists) On the Verge, Weisman Art Museum

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Opening reception

Tomorrow night, Thursday, July 9, from 8-10 pm, there will be an opening reception for Art(ists) On the Verge at the Weisman Art Museum.

http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/
http://weisman.umn.edu/exhibits/AOV/home.html
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Lights/41442276136#/event.php?eid=203135440643&ref=mf

Opening Night Performances

8:30 pm Krista Kelley Walsh, Public Eye Action, Northrop Mall and Weisman Art Museum
9:00 pm Aniccha Arts will perform an excerpt of Cloud Turn, Weisman Art Museum
9:30 triquetera, an allegorical exercise. Andrea Steudel and David Steinman with sounds by John Keston present an original outdoor video performance on the facade of the Weisman Art Museum

Art(ists) On the Verge

Artists on the Verge 2008-2009 at the Weisman Art Museum features works or documentation of works made by the inaugural group of Art(ists) on the Verge fellows. Installations of all six commissions are included. Artists are Aniccha Arts (Pramila Vasudevan, Director), Avye Alexandres, Christopher Baker, Kevin Obstatz, Andrea Steudel, and Krista Kelley Walsh.

Art(ists) on the Verge (AOV) is a new Northern Lights fellowship program that supports Minnesota-based, emerging artists working experimentally at the intersection of art and technology, with a focus on practices that are social, virtual and/or participatory. The program is sponsored by the Jerome Foundation.

In September 2008 a jury consisting of Liz Armstrong (The Minneapolis Institute of Art), Steve Dietz (Northern Lights), Ben Heywood (Soap Factory), Ana Serrano (Canadian Film Center Media Lab), and Anu Vikram (Headlands Residency Program) selected 6 artists for AOV fellowships. This exhibition represents the culmination of the fellowship year.

Artists

Avye Alexandres

Once, 2009
interactive environment
http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/alexandres/

Once is a mixed media, immersive installation designed to function as memory might. Placing the viewer on the edge of an ambiguous, changing and ephemeral space, the work raises questions about the placement, origins, and malleability of our memories. It also highlights the difficulty we have controlling our surroundings and recollections.

Aniccha Arts

Cloud Turn, 2009
DVD
http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/aniccha-arts/

For the Weisman Art Museum, Pramila Vasudevan, founder and director of Annicha Arts presents documentation of the interactive dance performance Cloud Turn presented at Pillsbury House Theater in early June 2009.

Cloud Turn is a part of Aniccha Arts’s larger multi-media endeavor The Weather Vein Project. Created in a time of publicly acknowledged climate crisis, the work investigates the human desire and need for weather modification. The Weather Vein Project is based on a series of workshops with students and the general public throughout the Twin Cities as well as an online discussion site exploring the arising concern about global water scarcity.

Aniccha Arts / Mark Fox

Weather Oracle, 2009
interactive sound sculpture

This interactive sculpture is a part of Annicha Arts’s, The Weather Vein Project. Designed to be shown in the entryway to the performance of the interactive dance performance, Cloud Turn, the sculpture responds sonically to the audience.

Annicha Arts

wecanchangetheweather.org, 2009
blog

The web log accessible on this computer explores and documents our weather memories in an age of increasing warmth. Developed by Pramila Vasudevan, founder and director of Aniccha Arts, primary contributors are Shalini Gupta, Cecilia Martinez, and Mark Seeley with workshop contributors Piotr Szyhalski from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and Ian Rhodes and Martha Johnson from Highland Park Junior High School.

Christopher Baker

Murmur Study, 2009
Thermal printers, paper, Twitter
http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/baker/

Murmur Study is an installation that examines the rise of micro-messaging technologies such as Twitter and Facebook’s status update, which have become a kind of digital small talk or contemporary coffee klatsch. But unlike water-cooler conversations, these fleeting thoughts are accumulated, archived and digitally indexed by corporations. While the future of these archives remains to be seen, the sheer volume of publicly accessible personal—often emotional—expression might give us pause.

This installation consists of 30 thermal printers that continuously monitor Twitter for new messages containing variations on common emotional utterances. Messages containing hundreds of variations on expressions(?) such as argh, meh, grrrr, oooo, ewww, and hmph, are printed as an endless waterfall of text accumulating in tangled piles below.

Murmur Study is an ongoing collaboration with Márton András Juhász and the Kitchen Budapest. Baker, a former research scientist, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Time and Interactivity program and currently has a residency fellowship at The Kitchen in Budapest.

Christopher Baker

HPVS (Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome), 2009
cell phones

HPVS (Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome) is a kinetic sculpture that considers the subtle, often-subconscious ways that mobile communication technologies shape our senses. The title references the recently discovered Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome—a syndrome wherein mobile phone users become hyper-attentive to their mobile devices, often experiencing phantom ringing sensations even in the absence of incoming calls or messages. This work carefully orchestrates the vibrations of over 500 mobile phones to produce a familiar yet quietly disturbing cacophony.

Kevin Obsatz

The Gate to the Enclosure, 2009
four-screen video installation
http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/obsatz/

The Gate to the Enclosure is a four-screen video installation that challenges the practice of restricting televisual communication to “keyhole” or “vignette” dynamics, in which the author of the work is both safely hidden behind his/her framing choices, and in complete, unilateral control of the experience of the viewer. For this installation, the artist built a four-camera video apparatus that captures a 360-degree field of vision. He then experimented with it in various environments, both as a static observer and as a form that can be manipulated in three-dimensional space.

In The Gate to the Enclosure the dynamics of the relationship between cameraperson, apparatus and filmed “subject” are very different than those at play in the traditional act of filming with a single camera. The keyhole effect is shattered as notions of inside and outside the field of view are blurred. As a result, the viewers become observer and observed, subject and object, positioned on the same side of the lens, a part of the same landscape.

Andrea Steudel

Mobile Shadow Projection Theater, 2009
DVD
http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/steudel/

Andrea Steudel, collaborating with different artists, such as Angela Olson of the Open Eye Figure Theater, Jetpack Puppeteer Karen Haselman and for a performance at the Weisman, David Steinman with John Keston, created a portable projection system tailored for shadow puppetry. She then deployed it ubiquitously in the public sphere in performances of varying formality. This looping DVD shows video documentation of her urban performances over the course of the fellowship.

Krista Kelley Walsh

Public Eye Action, 2009
computer, graphite on paper
http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/walsh/

Public Eye Action is a series of site-specific visual events created for public webcams. The events initiated by the artist and undertaken before the cameras humorously hijack these “eyes in the sky” to expose their persistent presence in our daily lives. For the Weisman installation Kelley Walsh has installed a computer monitor linked to a webcam positioned on the University’s Northrop Mall and will work with the community to stage actions there. In addition, Kelley Walsh has installed 5 drawings she created from selected images captured from web cameras.

Cloud Turn – a performance

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Cloud Turn

Aniccha Arts premieres Cloud Turn the performance component of The Weather Vein Project. Cloud Turn reflects on current and future capabilities of human weather manipulation, a power one could consider to be Godlike. Aniccha Arts, renowned for their originality, brings detailed, sinuous, and percussive Indian based dance movement integrated with their highly manipulated media style. This performance is constructed with content from workshops conducted at various locations throughout the Twin Cities as well as from the blog at http://wecanchangetheweather.org.

Tickets

Tickets: Adults: $12; Students (with ID): $10
Dates: 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 5, – Sunday, June 7, 2009
Venue: Pillsbury House Theatre, 3501 Chicago Avenue S., Minneapolis, MN 55407
Box Office: (612) 825-0459; http://pillsburyhousetheatre.org

Credits

Director: Dipankar Mukherjee; Lead Artist: PramilaVasudevan; Performance Media and Technology: Jennifer Jurgens; Audio Installation: Mike Westerlund; Lobby Installation: Mark Fox; Lighting Design: Mike Wangen; Graphic Design: Ryan Michlitsch; Photography: Jeff Ferguson; Stage Manager and Costume Designer: Romina Takimoto;  Dance Collaborators: Sarah Beck-Esmay, Chitra Vairavan

The Weather Vein Project


Aniccha Arts, led by Pramila Vasudevan, and driven by Mark Fox, Jennifer Jurgens, and Mike Westerlund present the Weather Vein Project. This project consists of a blog, workshops at various performance and educational locations, a performance at the Pillsbury House Theatre (June 5-7, 2009), and an installation at the Weisman Art Museum (July, 2009).

Support

The Weather Vein Project is a commission of Northern Lights’ Art(ists) on the Verge program with the generous support of the Jerome Foundation. Additional support provided by the McKnight Foundation, the Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and Pangea World Theater.

Art-a-Whirl’d

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Avye Alexandres, prototype of "Once." http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/alexandres/
Avye Alexandres, prototype of "Once." http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/alexandres/
Avye Alexandres, prototype of "Once." http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/alexandres/
Mark Fox, prototype for interactive sound sculpture, The Weather Vein Project. http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/aniccha-arts/
Mark Fox, prototype for interactive sound sculpture, The Weather Vein Project. http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/aniccha-arts/
Mark Fox, prototype for interactive sound sculpture, The Weather Vein Project. http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/aniccha-arts/
Andrea Steudel's mobile shadow puppet projection project on the Thorp building. http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/steudel/
Andrea Steudel's Mobile Shadow Projection Theater on the Thorp building. http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/programs/aov/steudel/
Forecast Public Art
Forecast Public Art
Northern Lights / Forecast Public Art
Kaitlin Frick, Forecast Public Art

Art-a-Whirl opened last night. Northern Lights and Forecast Public Art shared a great warehouse space in the Thorp Building with Minnesota Mosaic Guild, Free Arts Minnesota, and some amazing sculptures by Carey Netherton, a recent transplant to the Twin Cities.

Later in the evening, Andrea Steudel and some students from the Ali Momeni’s class at the U of M projected on the outside of the building. Pramila and a colleague did a preview in the projection of Aniccha Art’s preview of Cloud Turn today.

Art-a-Whirl this weekend

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Northern Lights and Forecast Public Art at Art-a-Whirl

Friday, May 15, 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Saturday, May 16, noon – 8:00 pm
Sunday, May 17, noon – 5:00 pm

Join Northern Lights and Forecast Public Art for the annual Art-a-Whirl event. We will be presenting previews of the Art(ists) on the Verge commissions and umbrella artwork for Forecast’s 2009 auction, along with other special events and programs.

Visit us at the Thorp

Northern Lights and Forecast will be exhibiting in the historic Thorp building and Central Business Center at 1618-1620 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis MN. Map to the Thorp Building. Download a map of the dozens of studios and artist installations at the Thorp [pdf].

Art(ists) On the Verge

Prior to their exhibition at the Weisman Art Museum, July 5 – August 24, Aniccha Arts, Avye Alexandres, Christopher Baker, Kevin Obsatz, Andrea Steudel, and Krista Kelley Walsh will be previewing their work. Come for a sneak peak. Tell them what you think.

Special Events

Friday, May 15 at 9:00 pm on

Andrea Steudel will present her Mobile Shadow Projection Theater, and members of the internationally-acclaimed Minneapolis Art on Wheels will present a special set of projection performances on the side of the Thorp Building. This will be one of the premier events of opening night.

Saturday, May 16, between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm

Members of Aniccha Arts will perform around Mark Fox’s interactive sound sculpture excerpts of their dance Cloud Turn prior to their ticketed performance at the Pillsbury House Theater, June 5-7.

Sunday, May 17, 1:00 pm

Krista Kelley Walsh and friends will be performing webcam action on Northrop Mall at the University of Minnesota, part of her Public Eye Action, which will be streamed live to the Thorp Building.

Be a beta tester

Friday, May 15, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday, May 16, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Sunday, May 17, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Northern Lights and mnartists.org recently commmissioned Michael and Abigail Mouw to create a public art iPhone app to be launched by the summer of 2010. Come by and find out more about it, including how you can sign up to be a beta tester.

Art-a-Whirl

Art-A-Whirl is one of the largest open studio and gallery tours in the Midwest, with more than 400 participating artists drawing in more than 35,000 visitors to Northeast Minneapolis each year. The Thorp Building and the Central Business Center are in the heart of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, and with over 65 artists and several group shows, it is a must for your Art-A-Whirl tour.

Art-A-Whirl is organized by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) and each year it publishes an artist directory which is distributed through out the metro area in the weeks leading up to Art-A-Whirl.

Support

Is your emotional weather report from cloud 9?

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Art(ists) On the Verge, Northern Lights’ Jerome-funded commissioning program, will be exhibiting at the Weisman Art Museum July 5 – August 23, 2009. More about this soon. In the meantime, one of the commissions, The Weather Vein Project led by Pramila Vasudevan, and driven by Mark Fox, Jennifer Jurgens, and Mike Westerlund has launched a blog and website, which will feed into the performance of “Cloud Turn” at the Pillsbury House Theater June 5-7.

an interactive dance performance, which is a reflection of humans playing God with regard to weather. Renowned for their originality, Aniccha Arts bring detailed, sinuous, and percussive Indian based dance movement integrated with their rich, colorful and highly manipulated media style. This performance is constructed with content from workshops conducted at various facilities throughout the Twin Cities as well as from the We Can Change the Weather blog.

“Cloud Turn” will be previewed at Northern Lights’ installation with Forecast Public Art at Art-a-Whirl and an exceprt performed at the Weisman exhibition reception on July 9.

AOV grantees announced

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Northern Lights is pleased to announce that the recipients of the 2008 Art(ists) on the Verge grants for Minnesota-based, emerging artists working experimentally at the intersection and technology, with a focus on practices that are social, collaborative and/or participatory have been selected.

AOV Fellows

Christopher Baker, Participation Overload – Reconsidering Participative Art Practices

The core goal of the proposed project is to create an artistic installation that engages and questions the state of technologically mediated participation, both in larger democratic contexts and within interactive new media art contexts. I seek to provide an immersive installation environment wherein participants discover opportunities – through conversation and personal contemplation – to consider the ways that new communication technologies both constrain and enable their participation in democratic and social processes.

Andrea Steudel, Mobile Shadow Projection Theater

This project’s key concept is the simultaneous building of a tool, collaborative relationship, and mode of working that effectively bridges an old approach with new technology in the public sphere. I will expand the ancient techniques of silhouette cutouts and shadow puppetry by using video projection technology on urban landscape.

AOV Mentor Program

Avye Alexandres

I propose to build a motion-activated, interactive installation that visually and aurally presents a collage of a home. The aim is to create a space that functions as memory might, shifting and momentary, referencing images of a domestic interior with audio recordings relative to its component memories.

Kevin Obsatz, Video Cyclorama

A four-wall immersive real-time video projection with both live and pre-recorded sourcing from different environments and scenes. The video feed will be created with four small HD cameras shooting simultaneously on a specially built tripod mount, with a 360-degree field of vision.

Pramila Vasudevan, Dowsing the Mirage II

with Jennifer Jurgens, Mark Fox, Michael Westerlund

Aniccha Arts proposes to engage the Twin Cities community with online discussions and workshops that lead up to a three – day performance that illustrates the contention of humans playing god by taking control of the weather.

Krista Kelley Walsh, (Public access WebCam installation/ performance series)

I propose to make site-specific installations and performances for public access webcam locations for public and internet viewing. This project seeks to create 2-4 site specific public web cam projects, while it explores the technology available to expand audience access, extended life of the projects and effective documentation.

Jury

The jury for the 2008 Art(ists) On the Verge Fellowships and Mentor Program consisted of:

Supported by

Art(ists) On the Verge grant program is run by Northern Lights, a new Twin Cities-based arts agency, with support by the Jerome Foundation with fiscal sponsor Forecast Public Art.