A verdant green virtual golf course is altered into a state of refractive tranquility. (AR)

Theme theme of MYST continues!

MYST
Identifying with the 1993 computer adventure game MYST, this program of contemporary moving image-based art mazes through aberrant places and mystifying spaces, highlighted by digital simulacra that employs new technology to render regressive aesthetics inspired by the nascency of the early virtual.

Headquarters
Nicolas Sassoon & Sara Ludy, 2011, 3 min, video
https://youtu.be/mr4TN4C54Cs

Headquarters, by Nicolas Sassoon and Sara Ludy, is an architectural proposal for the online art collective Computers Club. The animation displays a 3D aerial view and walk-through of a building rendered at a low resolution using a simple color palette. The building displayed in the video is meant to act as a physical meeting point and a center of operations for the members of the collective. Nicolas Sassoon created the design of the building and the animated rendering; Sara Ludy created the soundtrack for the animation. (AR)

Next Monday is the last week of MYST.

MYST
Identifying with the 1993 computer adventure game MYST, this program of contemporary moving image-based art mazes through aberrant places and mystifying spaces, highlighted by digital simulacra that employs new technology to render regressive aesthetics inspired by the nascency of the early virtual.

Our Relationships Will Become Radiant
James Lowne, 2011, 9 mins, video, color, sound

Mysterious and abstruse with coarsely rendered aesthetics, James Lowne’s “Our Relationships Will Become Radiant” is a peculiar animation that at first glance appears to be a CG test animation from the late ‘80s or early ’90s; however, this video was completed in 2011 and was commissioned by Animate Projects of London. A strong sense of foreboding pervades as multiple narratives unfold together. Bloody birds, desolate landscapes, cryptic activities and relationships, sparse wildlife, and lonesome figures exist in a mystifying space of dreamlike and surrealistic reflection. (AR)

The theme of MYST continues throughout March, spread the word—

MYST
Identifying with the 1993 computer adventure game MYST, this program of contemporary moving image-based art mazes through aberrant places and mystifying spaces, highlighted by digital simulacra that employs new technology to render regressive aesthetics inspired by the nascency of the early virtual.

 MYST 
Identifying with the 1993 computer adventure game MYST, this program of contemporary moving image-based art mazes through aberrant places and mystifying spaces, highlighted by digital simulacra that employ new technology to render regressive aesthetics inspired by the nascency of the early virtual.

Today we feature SOD by JODI.

SOD
JODI, 2013, 5 mins, video, b/w, sound
A severe modification of the MS DOS game Wolfenstein 3D (1992) deconstructs it into a hyper-minimalist black-and-white maze of geometric forms and pixel patterns. (AR)

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( http://jodi.org ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

I couldn’t choose just one optical toy, so I’m leaving you with three – all built on pedal power! Because what’s better than optical bicycles?

Jodie Mack’s Bike-Cycle
A zoetrope geared to the pedals of experimental animation heroine Cecile Starr’s exercise bike. The documentation from this piece comes from Mono No Aware. I really wish I could have been there to experience it.
https://vimeo.com/album/2176973/video/55208584
(More optical toys by Jodie Mack: https://vimeo.com/album/2176973)

Peter Hudson’s Sisyphish 2002 and Deeper 2004
Bike powered, large scale, 3D stroboscopes. The magic of the stroboscope is that you don’t need walls and slats, or even mirrors — the strobe light functions like a shutter to create the motion. There are quite a few stroboscopes out there, but I love the simplicity of powering the entire mechanism, especially one this large, to just a bike. The documentation for both stroboscopes is from Burning Man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljFqF-TCBok

Tim Wheatley’s Cyclotrope
These two experiments synchronize the spinning of a bicycle wheel with the shutter of a camera to create the animations you’re seeing on screen. Although probably not a true optical toy, since the animation depends on the camera, these are too cool not to share with you.
https://vimeo.com/21016797 & https://vimeo.com/33991842
(For more about the Cyclotrope Project by Tim Wheatley:http://thecyclotrope.blogspot.com/)
I’m so thankful and honored to have had the opportunity to curate this month’s movies. I hope you all have enjoyed them as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. If you’re interested in learning more about these and other optical toys, check out the Laura Hayes and John Howard Wileman Exhibit of Optical Toys at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. (http://courses.ncssm.edu/gall…/collections/…/opticaltoys.htm)

I’d love to see what you’re making, too!

Yay for film!
heart emoticon charlotte