April 19, 2009

Zoe Beloff: Conjuring Specters @ REDCAT

FILM AT REDCAT PRESENTS
Zoe Beloff: Conjuring Specters
Mon Apr 27 | 8:30 pm
Jack H. Skirball Series
$9 [students $7, CalArts $5]

New York artist Zoe Beloff’s unique and mesmerizing films are philosophical toys: objects with which to think. Her work has especially borne on “phantoms,” on images that are “not there,” and on a precinematic version of the virtual, created by means of a stereoscopic Bolex camera that produces spectral 3-D images. Shadowland Or Light From The Other Side, starring Kate Valk of The Wooster Group, locates a link between Victorian spiritualism and the birth of cinema in late-19th century “Ghost Shows,” where actors interacted with magic lantern slides and stereoscopic views. Charming Augustine is an experimental narrative inspired by one of Charcot’s most famous patients at the Salpétrière in turn-of-the-century Paris. It explores connections between photographic documentation of hysteria and the prehistory of narrative film: Augustine captivates the doctors with her theatrical and photogenic hysterical attacks and in the process becomes a star, the “Sarah Bernhardt” of the asylum.

In person: Zoe Beloff

“Beloff exists as the consummate time traveler, floating between the two eras of cine-technology.”
Jeffrey Skoller, Shadows, Specters, Shards: Making History in Avant-Garde Film

LINK

April 14, 2009

Device Art: A Japanese Approach to Media Art

Machiko Kusahara
Device Art: A Japanese Approach to Media Art
Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 6:00 pm

Device Art is a Japanese project that explores new ways of bridging art, design, technology, science and entertainment. Works by the team members vary from Maywa Denki's funny gadgets to Hiroo Iwata's Robot Tile (currently shown at the Milano Salone 2009) and Kazuhiko Hachiya's functioning "personal" jet glider inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's animation film. In theorizing the nature of Device Art elements of Japanese culture, such as the importance of "tools", the appreciation of playfulness, the continuity between art and entertainment, and the importance of popular culture become key issues.

The lecture will introduce the concept of Device Art and discuss questions it raises, accompanied by a wide selection of examples by Japanese artists and designers. Machiko Kusahara is a Visiting Scholar, UCLA, D|MA, Art | Sci Center and a Professor at Waseda University.

Link

March 4, 2009

"How Do We See? How Can We Visualize?"

Donald Hoffman and Martin Wattenberg in Dialogue

Friday, March 6, 2009
Noon - 1:45 p.m.
Social Sciences Building (SOS), Room 250
Lunch provided. No RSVP required.

Donald Hoffman and Martin Wattenberg will discuss the interface between the cognitive neurological processes of vision and creative strategies for visualization. What happens when inborn “visual intelligence” meets the new modes of visualization made possible by new media? How might visualization techniques reshape how we see and what we know?

Donald D. Hoffman is a Professor of Cognitive Science at UC Irvine, and author of the book, Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See. His research focuses on visual perception, consciousness and the mind-body problem, virtual reality and cognitive science. He holds a Ph.D. in computational psychology from MIT.

Martin Wattenberg is a computer scientist and artist, known for his visualization-based artwork, which has been exhibited in venues such as the London Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the New York Museum of Modern Art. He is the founding manager of IBM’s Visual Communication Lab, which researches new forms of visualization and how they can enable better collaboration. Wattenberg holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from U.C. Berkeley.

Link

Parasomnia at the American Cinematheque

PARASOMNIA (DREAMS OF THE SLEEPWALKER)
2008, Rising Storm Productions, 103 min.

Director William Malone (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, FEAR DOT COM, "Masters of Horror") helms this macabre twist on the Sleeping Beauty legend. This gripping peril-packed love story not only taps into the zeitgeist of dark yet edgy romance-driven fantasies, but also pushes the familiar slasher film landscape into the more unique world of the surreal. The film is director Malone’s homage to the late Polish Surrealist Zdzislaw Beksinski, using the artist's work as the inspiration for the dream world throughout the film.

Valdemar Plusa, owner of the Belvedere Gallery and Beksinski's longtime friend and agent, will introduce the program. A panel discussion moderated by Richard Elfman (THE FORBIDDEN ZONE) on how art shapes and enriches the filmmaker’s vision, past and present, will precede the film, with director William Malone as well as legendary filmmakers Tobe Hooper, Mick Garris, Wes Craven and Stuart Gordon.

(Note from Perry: I will be conducting the interview with Valdemar before the film)

The filmmakers’ proceeds from this screening will be donated to arts organization MOCA for its continued support in providing arts education programs to the public and support for new artists.

Tickets $10, Students $8, advance tickets: Fandango

Link

Dorkbot SoCal 34

Sunday, March 8, 2009
1:00pm
warning: first day daylight savings time!
Machine Project, 1200 D North Alvarado Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Presenters will include:

Dan Goods: Dan is the "Visual Strategist" for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at CalTech where he develops creative ways of communicating science. He recently has done artwork with aerogel and on a team to develop a 108-foot long data driven sculpture at the San Jose airport.

Eric Gradman and Brent Bushnell: Eric and Brent will present ArtFall: a dynamic physical simulation by drawing on a whiteboard.

Brian O'Connor: Arduino + Chumby = Fun!: The Chumby is an open-source, ambient Internet device running Linux while the Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform. Brian will show how to connect an Arduino to the Chumby and develop a simple application that monitors the environment.

Link

December 11, 2008

Ray Zone @ 502a Thursday 3-6

Sorry for the last-minute notice, but Ray Zone is visiting for our last (makeup) Stereoscopic Imaging class today from 3 to 6 in ZML, and he's bringing along a few friends. Should be some amazing 3D presentations. If you're free, come on by.

December 10, 2008

AUTOMATA & The Velaslavasay Panorama present Hoberman & Biren

Announce_Image_Final650.jpg

AUTOMATA & The Velaslavasay Panorama present a program of live film/performance works

Perry Hoberman: Denial Clinic
Jordan Biren: All That Passes Before You, Already in Ruins

Saturday, December 13th at 8:00 p.m.
The Velaslavasay Panorama
1122 West 24th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(213) 746-2166
http://www.panoramaonview.org/

Tickets: $12 ($10 students, seniors, and panorama members)
to purchase tickets: http://www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/49667 or call 1-800-838-3006

SPECIAL INVITE FOR THE IMD COMMUNITY: If you'd rather, please come to the dress rehearsal on Friday night 12/12 at 8pm (it may be a little rougher, but it's a lot cheaper [free]).

Continue reading "AUTOMATA & The Velaslavasay Panorama present Hoberman & Biren" »

December 8, 2008

AE Stereoscopic Compositing

This is a quick tutorial on compositing and aligning stereoscopic movies in After Effects.

AE_stereo_instructions_1.mov

November 17, 2008

The Yes Man @ UCLA - Thursday 11/20

THE YES MEN
CORRECTING IDENTITIES WITH THE YES MEN
November 20, 2008, 6:00 pm

The Yes Men are a merry troupe of imposters who have poked fun at some of the world's biggest corporate criminals. They are most well known for impersonating the WTO– the subject of a feature film and book– but they have had dozens of other escapades fighting corporate crime with words, glue, and rubberbands.

Link

2008 EYEBEAM ROADSHOW

WORKSHOPS AND LECTURE
November 18, 2008, 6:00 pm

The Eyebeam Roadshow is what you get when you mix a rock and roll tour with the talented residents and fellows of the Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, NYC. Six Eyebeam members will introduce Eyebeam and their individual work from 6 to 7pm and will give four workshops from 7 to 10pm. The presentations are open to the public, but the workshops are only available for DMA students and are limited to twenty participants. The workshop sign-up sheet is at the Help Desk on the fourth floor.

Link

November 12, 2008

A Machine Project Field Guide to the LA County Museum of Art

November 15, 2008
Noon til 10pm

On November 15th, 2008 Machine Project is seizing control of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

We will be orchestrating ten hours of performances, workshops, and events which experiment with LACMA’s encyclopedic collections and expansive grounds. Featuring over 60 projects dispersed across the seven-building, twenty-acre campus, visitors are encouraged to explore the museum in new and unexpected ways.

Projects sited throughout the museum include a robotic Netsuke head, a glow-in-the-dark unicorn, a man in a suit made of pepper cans, an audio tour of ambient gallery sounds, and a painting reproduced in flowers. A bank of elevators will be inhabited by trios of musicians including a gamelan orchestra, mariachi band, and fife and drum core. Visitors can try to solve the interactive murder mystery with clues scattered across the museum grounds. The BP Grand Court will become a temporary Mission Control Center with electronics workshops, a video feedback installation of the day’s events, and an evening screening with performances and readings. There will also be craft workshops, mobile musical aliens, gallery massages, a handout of invisible performances, replicas made from LACMA’s trash, a lost nose, and much, much, more.

LINK

2008 Sloan Science Seminar: TECHNOLOGY AND PRIVACY

TECHNOLOGY AND PRIVACY: Can This Forced Marriage Be Saved?

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

1:15PM -- Screening of Minority Report (2002), directed by Steven Spielberg
4:00PM -- Panel Discussion
5:30PM -- Reception

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

* Dr. John Underkoffler. Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Oblong Industries, Inc. Science advisor on Minority Report, Iron Man, Aeon Flux, Stranger Than Fiction. Formerly a researcher MIT’s Media Lab.

* Dr. Douglas Thomas. Associate Professor of Communications, Annenberg School for Communication. Specialty is cybercrimes, computer security and surveillance, virtual identities, hacking culture.

* Dr. B. Clifford Neuman. Director, USC Center for Computer Systems Security; assistant research professor of computer science, Viterbi School of Engineering.

MAKE A RESERVATION

October 23, 2008

StereoskopixCalc: a stereoscopic calculator

StereoskopixCalc is a calculator for composing shots with stereoscopic cameras. (New much improved version 10/27/08, with automatic unit conversions, instructions & lots more). (right-click or ctrl-click, then 'Download Linked File')

Requires the Max 5 Runtime. Cross platform - OS X & Windows.

October 17, 2008

Stereoskopix: a stereoscopic movie player

For my 502a class - a stereoscopic movie player. (It's a Max/MSP/Jitter collective, so it's cross platform - OS X & Windows).

Converts from side-by-side format to anaglyph and vice versa. Requires the Max 5 Runtime.


October 6, 2008

Handy Max/MSP/Jitter Online Resources Patch

A collection of online resources in a small Max/MSP/Jitter patch.

A. Select & copy everything after the jump.
B. Open Max/MSP/Jitter
C. Select 'File/New From Clipboard'
D. Put patch in Presentation mode.
E. If you want it to open in Presentation Mode, select 'View/Patcher Inspector' and make sure that 'Open In Presentation' is checked.
F. Save the patch.

Continue reading "Handy Max/MSP/Jitter Online Resources Patch" »

Workshop Post 3

Quicktime Player Patch #2

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Workshop Post 2

Max 5 Quicktime Introduction

Continue reading "Workshop Post 2" »

Workshop Post 1

a simple first Max 5 patch

Continue reading "Workshop Post 1" »

September 26, 2008

Monday Workshop: Max/MSP/Jitter RESCHEDULED

• Time: Monday October 6 1pm-5pm.
• Place: ZML (Room 201 at the Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts).
• Instructor: Perry Hoberman
• Please RSVP to hoberman at usc dot edu; I will reply to confirm your participation.

This will be a hands-on workshop. We will have Max/MSP/Jitter installed on as many ZML Macs & PCs as possible, but participants are encouraged to install Max on their own laptops before the workshop, either by downloading the 30-day trial version, or by taking advantage of Cycling '74's special student pricing of $59 for a 9-month license.

What is Max?

Max/MSP/Jitter is an object-oriented graphical programming environment designed for music, signal processing, and multimedia. Originally developed at IRCAM in the 1980s, it is now published by Cycling '74. Max has been in use worldwide for nearly two decades by performers, composers, artists, teachers, and students.

Continue reading "Monday Workshop: Max/MSP/Jitter RESCHEDULED" »

September 22, 2008

Monday 9/29 Workshop: Making Content for the ZML

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• Time: Monday September 29 1pm-5pm.

• Place: ZML (Room 201 in the Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts).

• Instructor: Peter Preuss

• Please RSVP to ppreuss at cinema dot usc dot edu; I will reply to confirm your participation.

This will be a hands-on workshop on creating content for the 270 degree display system in the ZML. We will be making still, motion, video, and interactive content and using the Mac Pro cluster display system. If you plan on doing a project in the ZML, then this is the workshop for you !!! Bring your laptops and be sure to RSVP to me so I can make sure you are properly setup before the workshop.

• What will I learn about in this workshop?

We will be using, but not limited to, the following software; Quartz Composer, Quartz Composer Visualizer, Final Cut Pro and Motion, Max/MSP, and Adobe Photoshop. You will also get a full tutorial of the Mac Pro Cluster, 5.1 Audio capabilities of the ZML, Video input and teleconferencing capabilities of the ZML, and much much more. This is a must attend event !!!