SIGGARPH2005 part 2

Tuesday night there was a presentation by Side Effects Software (makers of Houdini) at Union Station. Free t-shirts were promised, followed by a party with free drinks til late. Getting to the party involved waiting 45 minutes in line with a thousand people, while they check IDs. Once inside, there were four bars serving the drinks, each with 30 or 40 people waiting in line to get drinks (for themselves and three of their friends). At this point I hear someone proclaim: “This is the best party I’ve been to in a long time.” Oh, did I mention there were some tacky go-go dancers off to the side of the main room? So if mobs are your thing, you would have enjoyed the party.

Wednesday morning, another art talk.
Thomas Briggs – A rather self-absorbed painter turned digital artist, who writes code to generate line-based images. While he is interested in computation, he intentionally doesn’t work with fractals or genetic algorithms or AI. Also does not “render” his images — the images are created by code, rather than by a rendering package. Briggs made a lot of statements about his work, but in the end I found little of interest in the images themselves.
Kate Chapman – An MFA student who produced a series of small sculptures, modelled in Maya and realized using rapid prototyping technology. The forms were figures moving through space, where the figure fills all of the space between, such as a body falling to the floor. The shapes were painted with a bronze patina, I guess to make them look like sculpted objects. Ultimately the work has more to say about using new technology than it does about our relationship with technology, which is disappointing.
Stephanie Owens – liquid_eden falls into the “projected images altered by people on the internet” genre. But why have two projected panels, and adjacent to one another?
Ansen Seale – Quote: “It’s a terrific show.” Panoramic images using a slit scan digital camera, producing time distored images where static areas are blurred and moving areas are clear. Horrific images of a model on a moving platform, creating abnormal creatures with multiple heads, limbs, and tattoos.
Lunch: I’d like to thank Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication in London for the glossy flyer they left on my table, which made a handy ketchup plate.
More notes to come.