ISTA 401 Blog: Introduction to Multimedia Installations

      At last a new semester and that means new classes! This semester I'll be taking ISTA 401 thought be a follow up for ISTA 301 which was the reason this blog was created. The first day was fun and I think the rest of the semester will be similar . . . hopefully. As am introduction I should tell you a little about myself as relating toward this new class. I'm an Information Science and Technology major so a I have a little programming experience with Java but mainly Python, HTML and CSS. Using these I've created many programs and websites for a variety of different objectives. Last semester I also was exposed a sketchbook called processing. I had fun working with the program as it was very easy and you could seemingly do anything with it. Further I have extensive CAD experience with Solidworks and Autocad.

      This class covers multimedia installations which is a very general and broad area of art. It encompasses very cool technology innovations crated by a very large and diverse population of artists. For example Martin Fussenegger and Michael Sebastian. They have created one of my favorite machines ever the Facadeprinter. Check out their website HERE and one of their cool videos below.

Great idea and an even better result in my opinion. Multimedia works are about pushing the known boundaries of mediums to the limits and creating extraordinary art. I love this type of art because it is using technology that was meant for one thing and adopting it to complete something unrelated to its original purpose. Another great innovator is Johnny Lee. Check out his website HERE and a video of his presentation at TED in 2008.

This I think is where my true love is. Lee is once again using existing technology and adapting it to meet other goals. I especially love the human computer interaction part of his work. Human computer interaction has always spurred my interest and I would love to explore its possibilities even more during this class.

One last one that its an interesting mind stretching examples is that game company. They have created many games with the idea that video games can be art. Their most popular example would be Flower. Check out some PS3 game play below and see what interactive art looks like.

Its pretty boring looking in my opinion but I'm not an art enthusiast. Its just a great example of the range of multimedia art. Really its endless but from what I've seen its pretty interesting. Hopefully this class will continue to amaze me with different and mine blowing projects - Laters