SIGGRAPH’s Art Gallery Presents 'Data Materialities'
Interactive art exhibits from around the world will be specially featured during SIGGRAPH 2016, coming to the Anaheim Convention Centre, 24–28 July 2016. This year's Art Gallery is titled ‘Data Materialities’ and comprises a collection of ten interactive installations created between 2003 and 2016.
SIGGRAPH 2016 Art Gallery Chair Jonah Brucker-Cohen said, "We have made a special effort to bring back large-scale, highly immersive displays for the Art Gallery. Our title, 'Data Materialities', illustrates the fact that in 2016, we are constantly surrounded by networks, information and data. Whether these stimuli consist of electromagnetic frequencies or physical wired connections, networks are everywhere, consuming and permeating our offices, homes, schools, and public indoor and outdoor spaces.
“'Data Materialities' exposes this plethora of data and transforms it to tangible incarnations that not only show their complexity, but also allow us to relate to them on a human scale. By injecting humor and kinetic energy into this year's exposition, the Art Gallery will make light of these data platforms and present them on a grand scale to reveal their ubiquity."
Artwork and artists for the SIGGRAPH 2016 Art Gallery are selected by the program chair and not by a jury. This year's Art Gallery will be open to attendees during the following dates and times:
Sunday, 24 July | Noon – 5:30 pm
Monday to Wednesday, 25-27 July | 10 am – 5:30 pm
Thursday, 28 July | 10 am – 1 pm
The following installations are a few examples of work in the collection.
Submergence - Chris Bennewith, Liam Birtles, Oliver Brown, Gaz Bushell, and Anthony Rowe, Squidsoup
‘Submergence’ is a large, immersive, walkthrough experience that uses up to 8,064 individual points of suspended light to create feelings of presence and movement within physical space. This video from YouTube user Nick Hunter shows the installation at the Geneva Mapping Festival.
Pixelbots - Paul Beardsley, Disney Research Zürich
Disney Research Zürich created a new kind of display in which pixels called ‘Pixelbots,’ are represented as small colorful mobile robots that create cartoon-like images or animations. 'Pixelbots' can be seen on the Disney Research YouTube channel, where they present a ‘Story of the Universe’ animation, including a fish, a dinosaur and a human.
The Kinetic Story Teller - Tine Bech, Independent Artist
‘The Kinetic Story Teller’ installation investigates how art, technology and playfulness can create new systems of communication by materializing data through kinetic interaction - and offer people new ways of connecting with each other in public spaces. Two beautiful swings light up and display people's social media messages on screens, encouraging participants to connect while they play.
Plinko Poetry - Peiqui Su and Deqing Sun, New York University
A playful, interactive installation, ‘Plinko Poetry’ has its roots in both the well-known TV game show ‘The Price Is Right’ and experimental blackout poetry. Every player can be both a winner and a poet. Drawing source text from current @nytimes and @FoxNews tweets, players can absurdly re-contextualize news headlines that are often overloaded with meaning. http://s2016.siggraph.org/