DIGITAL MEDIA

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A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS?

Katie Mellor

A Picture Says a Thousand Words? is an interactive installation which explores the concept of memory through the use of images and sound. The work is primarily inspired by the theory of Barthes and Kracauer, who suggest that photography acts as a block to true moments of recollection. This is seemingly at odds with popular culture, which often advertises the camera as the perfect tool with which to capture memories. The work aims to suggest that images can be used as a catalyst to remembrance.

The installation uses portrait images, displayed on screens, to convey individual memories. These images have been enhanced through the use of audio, as well as personal photographs and documents which the subject has chosen to best reflect the memory they are recollecting. From a distance, the images appear indistinct and blurred, however as the viewer approaches they come into sharper focus, mirroring the ambiguous and foggy nature of memory as a concept.

Creator: Katie Mellor [k.mellor320@gmail.com]

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ANIMATED EXCHANGES: PORTRAIT OF A VIRTUAL FAMILY

Clare Dann

The media has come to dominate many areas of society and none more so than the home. With the number of televisions and video games per household continuously rising, has the family lost the relationships that originally defined a family?

This animation intends to explore the relationship between the family and the media by combining recordings of my own family and their interactions in the presence of television and video games. The animation is heavily influenced by the early work of Aardman Animations, as well as the style of work of illustrator Zara Picken.

Using a sitcom-style structure, similar to many other family oriented animations, the project intends to ask the audience whether they see media to be encouraging or discouraging interactions and ultimately relationships within the family. The audience are also invited to consider their own experiences of the media in relation to familial relationships.

Creator: Clare Dann [clare.elisabeth.dann@gmail.com]

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DONALD THE WITCH, AND THE BREADCRUMBS

Joel Stone

Donald The Witch, and The Breadcrumbs is a modern adaptation of a classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale. It takes shape as a short, stylistic narrative animation produced in Adobe Flash and plays with some of society’s contemporary issues. It is concerned with the heavily mediated world that produces media generated fear of the unknown in the use of modern technology and teenagers in hoods.

The piece is styled in an organic way that has been originally hand drawn and reflects contemporary art and popular cultural movements. Donald has a very graphic, dark and gothic style that is equal to the tone of the story.

The look and feel of Donald could be seen to be similar to modern popular examples like the images used by the band Gorillaz (created by Jamie Hewlett), where the characters reflect a menacing and gothic, but modern, feel.

Creator: Joel Stone [jos21@sussex.ac.uk]

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EDU-TABLE

Adam Alexander

Edu-Table is an interactive tangible user interface that utilizes object tracking to create a highly engaging and educational experience. It draws on engagement theory to promote a system that is far more productive in enhancing learning and engagement experiences for those with learning difficulties, as well as young people generally. Its influence derives from the game ‘Brain Training’ primarily, as well as 'Shadow Box’ and other interfaces like ‘D-Touch’ that have ultimately provided paths of inspiration for an experience that could potentially help with learning difficulties. The project works by the user moving objects on a plastic surface that will have a computer’s desktop projected onto it. A camera will watch this surface, detecting if certain symbols (fiducials) are placed onto its surface from which sound or images will follow if the user places the correct fiducial in the correct space. This will function via a Max MSP patch linked to Reactivision that together produce a system of learning through interactivity.

Creator: Adam Alexander [adamjalexander88@gmail.com, 07983245269]

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ENVIRONMENT (ALL)

Daniel Cook

Climate change and the consequences of pollution have been at the forefront of much scientific and media attention for a number of decades. The impact of humans upon the earth is becoming more and more evident.

While there has been increasing importance placed on the issue of caring for the planet, very little action seems to be taking place.

This interactive installation aims to highlight the damaging effect human beings can have upon the earth and the growing anxiety for its welfare. Movement within this virtual environment will be detected, interpreted, and then presented back into the space to represent an individual’s responsibility to protect and sustain the planet for future generations to enjoy.

Varying levels of decay and degradation will be witnessed within the installation based on different levels of movement, portrayed through the use of sound and video.

It is hoped that this will stimulate thought and invoke change, in a situation that includes the entire human race far beyond any comprehension.

Creator: Daniel Cook [daniel_cook@me.com]

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HIC ET UBIQUE

Annie Noya Rey

Breathe….stretch 1, 2, 3... hold 5, 6, 7.. elongate, discover.

Hic Et Ubique has two main aims; 1. Exploring dance; interaction, expression, culture and diversity. 2. Promoting: creating a visual insight and sensation of the experience that Sussex University dance societies provide, endorsing a concept of skill sharing, socialising and interchange by uniting these dances digitally. The form of this installation is an animation, comprising of approximately 2,300 sketches. Rotoscoping with a silhouette style guarantees its audiences focus on the movement and the visible expression of the mind within the rest of the body, exteriorising the interior process. The technicality of dance portrayed through the slow unveiling of gesture frame-by-frame, harnesses learning and growth. Performances displayed on several screens provide an atmosphere of the way music and dance is within all that surrounds us.

Influences of the work are Barnow who suggested that “we remember best what the body experiences” (Barnow: 2007) and Lynne Hanna who stated that “Dance is a conceptual natural language...just as humans reflect upon themselves through different forms of creativity...they also reflect upon themselves through dance” (Lynne Hanna: 1987)

Creator: Annie Noya Rey [annie_noyarey@hotmail.com]

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MIXED SIGNALS

Lauren Hooper

Synesthesia is a neurological condition often described as a “union of the senses, whereby two or more of the five senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together”. Mixed Signals is an interactive installation that allows users to participate in a representation of a Synesthetic experience. The installation focuses on one of the more unusual strands of Synesthesia, a combination of taste and audio-visual senses. The result of user input onto the different models of fruit in the installation produces a representation of the colourful visualisation the taste of that fruit evokes, based on a combination of Synesthetes visual experiences and sensations while eating food.

The aim of the installation is to shed some light into a fascinating condition, which most people never experience.

Creator: Lauren Hooper [lauren.c.hooper88@gmail.com]

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NUPTIALS OF GOD

George Allen

Eric Gill (1882-1940) was a renowned artist-craftsman, accomplished in sculpture, engraving and typography. His sculptures adorn the exterior of broadcasting house and the interior of Westminster cathedral. His typeface Gill Sans is ubiquitous and has been adopted, variously, by the Church of England, the British Government and the BBC as their official font since its creation in 1926. Gill was a devout Catholic and a vocal advocate of the traditional family unit, however seemingly in contrast to these values he was also a deeply sexual man. This is evident from his art, in which he frequently and graphically depicted sex, often working on highly explicit pieces at the same time as religious works, and sometimes combining the two. One such work (an engraving from which the title of this project is borrowed) shows Mary Magdalene making love to Jesus upon the cross. Gill’s sexuality while perhaps incongruous with his other endeavours was seemingly overt. The full extent of his sexual activity was not uncovered until almost half a century after his death, in Fiona MacCarthy’s 1989 biography. In Gill’s meticulously kept, coded diaries, MacCarthy discovered, alongside references to extramarital affairs with both men and women, the far more disturbing revelation that Gill experimented with bestiality and frequently engaged in incestuous activity with his sisters and daughters.

Creator: George Allen [gofa20@sussex.ac.uk]

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PAPER THIN

Graham Nice

Paper Thin is an interactive video game which explores ideas of space and our control over it through the medium of play. Drawing from the works of Georges Perec and inspired by the novella Flatland, Paper Thin encourages the player to explore the world around them in new and different ways, manipulating the environment of the game world to aid the paper hero to surmount the obstacles which are presented to him, and opposing the controlling strategies of the space and his own limitations of exploring it – he can only move in two dimensions.

Texturing the virtual world with the physical with its aesthetic and controls, Paper Thin attempts to create a new ‘play space’, separate from the rules and realities of the purely physical and virtual environments. By controlling the game space using the game’s tangible control scheme, Paper Thin encourages users to explore and test the limits of their empowerment and physical control over the virtual game world.

Creator: Graham Nice [gram24@hotmail.co.uk]

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POLITICAL POSTCARDS

Rachel Tavernor

Political Postcards is an experimental public art project that makes a creative online space for citizens to take action. The project breaks the boundaries of current campaign actions that are embedded in separate online spaces by creating an open web-space for citizens to freely publish their political messages.

Initially influenced by Antony Gormley’s (2009) public art project ‘One and Other’ where 2,400 participants used the Fourth Plinth to creatively communicate messages, Political Postcards seeks to extend this creativity in a digital arena.

Once the postcards have been created online, a selection is projected into public spaces near their campaign targets. Echoing traditional campaign actions by occupying the streets and inspired by political artist Jeremy Deller (Baghdad Car 2007) whose artwork ignites debates in public spaces.

Political Postcards aims to revolutionise online political actions by creating an open space that facilitates a juxtaposition of political ideas, art and activism.

Creator: Rachel Tavernor [racheltavernor@yahoo.co.uk, www.politicalpostcards.org.uk]

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RE-BOOT SALE

Kelly Sutherland

The Re-Boot Sale is an interactive installation that questions the proposed ephemerality of media in the digital age. Conceptually grounded in tactical media practices, it aims to demonstrate the political and environmental repercussions of a society over-saturated with new technologies. Notions of technology fatigue are also explored in order to examine the possible emotional effects that such saturation may have.

The Re-Boot Sale encourages participants to have a traditional, mechanical interaction with objects and invites them to bring an unwanted piece of media to leave behind, explore the media already there and leave with something ‘new’. Visitors can also record feedback about their swap on a replica arcade machine. This prominent feature both encapsulates the change in technology as it too has become replaced by modern counterparts, and also by creating a lasting record of the event, challenging proposed notions that digitisation produces intangible art.

With original art work by Kelvin Green, designed specifically for the project, a panoramic canvas portrays our future waste sites. Littered only by unwanted media that has become passé, undesirable or forgotten; mirroring the space which it adorns.

Creator: Kelly Sutherland [kesutherland@hotmail.co.uk, 07531603917]

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VIRTUAL BREAK-IN: HOME INVASION IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL MASS SURVEILLANCE

Will Foster

Virtual Break-in uses an augmented live video feed, featuring a faked intrusive surveillance effect that seeks to question the role of surveillance ethics and new technologies across differing social spaces. The live feed is set up to capture and play back images of passers by to themselves. With the addition of the fake effect along with the framing of the shot, viewers are placed in visual proximity to people who are [supposedly] physically close, yet ideologically distant due to their position in a differently classified social space. As such, this project evokes questions around the bringing together of the public and private realms through the intrusive aspect of modern day surveillance technologies.

Virtual Break-in takes inspiration from a number of digital works, including Chris O’Shea’s ‘Hand from Above’, and a recent Dutch government advertising campaign that both use live augmented video feeds. Other conceptual influences include the work of Marie Sester (including ‘Access’ 2003), Bruce Nauman (Including ‘Public Room, Private Room’), and Michael Punt (‘Centre of the world’ 1991).

Creator: Will Foster [wtf21@sussex.ac.uk]

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THE WAY FINDS YOU

Jonny Hughes

The Way Finds You is an interactive installation utilising light and sound to create an immersive experience influenced by folktales re-told today, in an interactive fashion. The works of the German academics, the Brothers Grimm, have been the main source of inspiration as well as other fairytales. These tales were used as morality lessons to warn children of the perils of their actions. In particular, Little Red Riding Hood is an inspirational tale, the crossover of an innocent child entering the sinister and dark woods and being misled by a dangerous wolf.

Entering a darkened room with a only a flashlight to guide the way, The Way Finds You takes you on a journey through the dark wood, with highly distorted noises which envelop you in a disturbing sound and visual experience, utilising the technological advances of a new age of digital media.

Creator: Jonny Hughes [jh298@sussex.ac.uk]

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WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?

Graham Monaghan

Ever had one of those nights where you don’t quite remember what happened? Inspired by the work of M. Bull and J.P.Thiband, What happened last night? is a flash based game that allows you to retrace your steps from the night before and recover what you lost on your drunken night out. On your journey you will have to help out several members of the public by performing mini tasks for them and in return they will help you find your belongings. For additional help while moving through the streets of Brighton, your mp3 player becomes your guide as you create your own personal space and through listening to your music you can view the city in a completely different way.

Creator: Graham Monaghan [grhmmnghn@gmail.com]

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WHO WE ARE

Vicky Anderson

The growing use of online social media within our society highlights an importance, reliability, and a potential risk in using such profiling systems when acknowledging the absence of emotional and psychological content within these online constructions. This makes one question, who are we when we are online? This project explores the concept of misrepresentation found in current online social media through the development of psychological profiling and emotional mapping presented in the generative art form.

My interest in this area of research originates from acknowledging the tailored and inaccurate nature of online profiles and yet their growing role within society. My project acts as an intervention into these previously fallible inventions, with a data visualisation system that could be considered a more insightful form of self-representation, through a mediated online space.

Visually, Joshua Davis has influenced my work through his use of Action-Script code to generate unique and randomised compositions. Jonathon Harris’ use of social media as a topic for research and medium for data collection has also influenced my approach and use of shapes and colours.

Creator: Vicky Anderson [vicky2389@hotmail.com]

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