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SIGGRAPH 2018 Art Gallery to Reflect Diversity and Culture

Art gallery, art papers to appear in 50th anniversary edition of ‘Leonardo.’

‘Transformation Mask’ is an interactive installation that will be exhibited as part of the SIGGRAPH 2018 Art Gallery during the annual conference, set for Aug. 12-16 in Vancouver.

CHICAGO -- SIGGRAPH 2018, the world’s leading showcase of digital art created using computer graphics and interactive techniques, will present a special art gallery, titled “Origins,” and historic art papers in Vancouver, Canada. The programs also will honor the generations of creators that have come before through a special, 50th anniversary edition of the Leonard journal.

The 45th SIGGRAPH conference will take place Aug. 12-16 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The SIGGRAPH 2018 Art Gallery is a curated exhibition, conceived as a dialogical space that enables the viewer to reflect on man’s diverse cultural values and rituals through contemporary creative practices. Building upon an exciting and eclectic selection of creative practices mediated through technologies that represent the sophistication of our times, the SIGGRAPH 2018 Art Gallery will embrace the narratives of the indigenous communities based near Vancouver and throughout Canada as a source of inspiration. The exhibition will feature contemporary media artworks, art pieces by indigenous communities, and other traces of technologically mediated Ludic practices.

Highlights from the 2018 Art Gallery include:

Transformation Mask (Canada) [Technology Based]

Shawn Hunt, independent; and Microsoft Garage: Andy Klein, Robert Butterworth, Jonathan Cobb, Jeremy Kersey, Stacey Mulcahy, Brendan O’Rourke, Brent Silk, and Julia Taylor-Hell, Microsoft Vancouver

Transformation Mask is an interactive installation that features the Microsoft HoloLens. It utilizes electronics and mechanical engineering to express a physical and digital transformation. Participants are immersed in spatial sounds and holographic visuals.

Somnium (U.S.) [Science Based]

Marko Peljhan, Danny Bazo, and Karl Yerkes, University of California, Santa Barbara

Somnium is a cybernetic installation that provides visitors with the ability to sensorily, cognitively, and emotionally contemplate and experience exoplanetary discoveries, their macro and micro dimensions, and the potential for life in our Galaxy. Some might call it “space telescope.”

Ernest Edmonds Retrospective – Art Systems 1968-2018 (United Kingdom) [History Based]

Ernest Edmonds, De Montfort University

Celebrating one of the pioneers of computer graphics-based art since the early 1970s, this Ernest Edmonds career retrospective will showcase snapshots of Edmonds’ work as it developed over the years. With one piece from each decade, the retrospective will also demonstrate how vital the Leonardo journal has been throughout the 50-year journey.

In addition to the works above, the Art Gallery will feature pieces from notable female artists Ozge Samanci, Ruth West, and Nicole L’Hullier. For more information about the Edmonds retrospective, read this post on the ACM SIGGRAPH Blog

The SIGGRAPH 2018 Art Papers program is designed to feature research from artists, scientists, theorists, technologists, historians,  and more in one of four categories: project description, theory/criticism, methods, or history. The chosen work was selected by an international jury of scholars, artists, and immersive technology developers.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Leonardo (MIT Press), and 10 years of its annual SIGGRAPH issue, SIGGRAPH 2018 is pleased to announce a special anniversary edition of the journal, which will feature the 2018 art papers. For 50 years, Leonardo has been the definitive publication for artist-academics.

Art Papers highlights include:

Augmented Fauna and Glass Mutations: A Dialogue Between Material and Technique in Glassblowing and 3D Printing [Long]

Tobias Klein, City University of Hong Kong

The two presented artworks, “Augmented Fauna” and “Glass Mutations,” were created during an artist residence at the Pilchuck Glass School. They are examples of the qualities and methods established through a synthesis between digital workflows and traditional craft processes and thus formulate the notion of digital craftsmanship.

Alienating the Familiar with CGI: A Recipe for Making a Full CGI Art House Animated Feature [Long]

Alex Counsell and Paul Charisse, University of Portsmouth

This paper explores the process of making and funding an art house feature film using full CGI in a marketplace where this has never been attempted. It explores cutting-edge technology and production approaches, as well as routes to successful fundraising. 

Inhabitat: An Imaginary Ecosystem in a Children’s Science Museum [Short]

Graham Wakefield, York University, and Haru Hyunkyung Ji, OCAD University

“Inhabitat” is a mixed reality artwork in which participants become part of an imaginary ecology through three simultaneous perspectives of scale and agency; three distinct ways to see with other eyes. This imaginary world was exhibited at a children’s science museum for five months, using an interactive projection-augmented sculpture, a large screen and speaker array, and a virtual reality head-mounted display.

 To register for the conference, visit s2018.SIGGRAPH.org.

Source: SIGGRAPH

Thomas J. McLean's picture

Tom McLean has been writing for years about animation from a secret base in Los Angeles.