Illuminate Yaletown is a light and projection artists’ event held each February in Vancouver, brightening the winter nights in the downtown neighbourhood.

Stuart’s Yaletown Project Mapping Test #2 installation uses the emerging art form of “mapping” to transform a building into a screen, making it a light-driven moving sculpture.

Recent technologies have broken the rectangular barriers of media presentation formats. The limitations of 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios are becoming a thing of the past. The same goes for 2D screens. What if, in addition to making the content 3D, the screen was also 3D? Why even have traditional screens?

Contemporary media pioneers are exploring the possibilities of video projection on alternative surfaces — primarily architecture — but also on sculpture, vehicles, and other physical objects. This, itself, is not a new art form, but the creation of visual media to harmonize with the physical shapes of a projected surface has been a recent development, originating in Europe in the past 10 years. The advances of computer processing power, as well as video projection systems, have made this art form, called “mapping”, possible.

The presentation surface can now play a role in the artistic narrative of a media piece. In most cases, this means that the architectural narrative of form and space can be considered during the creative process. What ‘fits’ the aesthetic, the shape, and the story?

The content being presented is not in a traditional start-to-finish linear narrative. Rather, individual pieces have been made to match the building’s shapes, and graphical imagery has been broken into themes. Using a real-time media playback system, different parts of the building’s projected imagery can be changed, creating a non-linear and manipulable narrative.
I was fortunate enough to collaborate with music producers James Teej, and Marc Nyiti to create a soundtrack for the installation. The sounds are translated by video filters, in real-time, to adjust the video output, creating a synesthetic effect.

But what does it all mean?
I’ve got a large presentation surface for use as an artist with no corporate limitations. In addition to the visual delights and intrigues that most people come to see, is there a message I want to convey as an artist? Absolutely. Globally, we can see the problems that result when we fail to communicate or fail to listen, but we can also see evidence of the unbounded possibilities resulting from understanding and mutual respect. I want to send this message, but only if the audience wants to see it.

My intention isn’t to hijack the show, but instead to have the audience embrace the experience, thereby ‘adjusting their vision’ and seeing the graphic imagery of possibility, hope, fear, truth, and freedom.

I asked Digital Design Senior Instructor Casey Yee, who is an accomplished interface developer, if he was interested in building an interactive aspect to this piece. He agreed, and went on to develop an audience-controlled adjustable tuner. It can unlock some emotionally charged and inspirational content when used by an interactive viewer.

Illuminate Yaletown is still in its infancy, but is in good standing to become one of Canada’s premier light installation expos. That’s why it’s so incredibly thrilling to have been able to be a part of this event. I would like to thank James Teej, Marc Nyiti, Casey Yee, Josef Chung, Mac Station, and the Yaletown Business Improvement Association for all their help and efforts.

There were some great projections onto buildings throughout Yaletown, and it’s clear that there are some talented artists in Vancouver working in the field.

Let’s hope we get to see a lot more projection mapping in Vancouver.

Original Post on the VFS website

Revisiting a project created in 2003…

Etching circuit boards as a form of creative expression? I made a series of images by combining 19th century botanical illustrations scanned from antique hardcovers with circuit-like shapes created in digitally.  The images were used as light resists in the creation of a photoresist, which was in turn used as an etching resist.  The first part of the process is similar to traditional photography, performed in a dark room with developer and stop bath chemicals.

The series, titled ‘Circuitree’ was displayed at the Nickle Gallery in Calgary, Canada.

The relationships between the dualities of nature and technology; science and art; creative processes and analytical processes were investigated.

.

.

Digital Drawings etched on circuit board.

Average size 6” x 6”, series of 8

2003

I would like to once again use this technique as a creative process, with a more technological final work in mind.  I would like to see the circuits actually able to perform a task beyond a being a decorative and contemplative form.

I just found a couple digital images of paintings I did back in my university days.

A discussion of technologically mediated communication, the paintings depict digital communication systems overlayed on pixelated imagery of found webcam screenshots.  The overlay style, painted in a definitely analog method, reference the digital layer opacity workflow found in applications such as Photoshop.

It cannot be denied that communication methods have changed as a result of technology.  Just over a century ago, communication across oceans took months, and now, real time HD video can stream. Speaking over the phone is different from speaking through connected computers. Video chat and web cam communication has changed our conceptual size of the real world, bringing people closer together, yet there is an increased psychological distance between humans emerging related to digital mediation.  Do the benefits outweigh the detriments?  Only time will tell.

.

.

.

Hfour produced the video for the annual Tokyo Women’s Cultural University fashion show which was held on June 6th 2009 on the Kokubunji campus. The full edit is just over an hour long and is unavailable for public release. This version is approximately twenty minutes shorter but still contains the show in its entirety.

Prêt a Porter Paris is the global fashion industry’s most important event. The 65,000-square-meter exhibition showcases more than 1,500 global fashion brands, runway shows and art installations and receives 45,000 visitors over four days.

Around 500 square meters of Prêt a Porter Paris is dedicated to an inspirational trends area called Explosion de Modes, a space displaying colors, fabrics and ideas.

The theme for Autumn-Winter 2010 is “New Generation Cities”, with Tokyo, Rio, Stockholm and Los Angeles as well as Paris selected by Explosion de Modes curator Alexandra Senes as the world’s new wave of urban influencers.

Five by Fifty will recreate Tokyo’s pulse and spirit to convey current consumer and societal trends within the parameters of a 80-square-meter space. Utilizing the five senses to create a contextual experience, Five by Fifty’s trend director Nicole Fall has assembled a cast of collaborators to demonstrate the inspirational diversity and contradictions of the world’s most populous city.

The roll call includes musicians Yasuharu Ohkouchi and Jeff Wichmann, film creator Stuart Ward (Hfour), and scent creator Kaori Oishi.

35 Million Stories:

There are millions of interacting stories in Tokyo. Filming them all would be impossible, yet filming just one would do a disservice to the millions of other unique stories which would be ignored in the process. With such a regard, I created a film which focuses on slices of Tokyo life, snippets of the scene in totality. I investigate the individual as a part of a greater form, and the greater form being composed of seemingly insignificant pieces. Without the individual, Tokyo would not exist, yet without the greater form, the individual would not have a purpose.
I have found people to be most alone in Tokyo when in large crowds.

Five By Fifty

Pret-a-Porter

The Open space featured more contemporary works of Art including a very exciting anechoic chamber, and a lot of interactivity in nearly every work.
NTT ICC

]]> http://hfour.jp/2008/12/thought-projector-at-the-icc/feed/ 0 http://hfour.jp/2008/09/the-hidden-nature-of-beauty/ http://hfour.jp/2008/09/the-hidden-nature-of-beauty/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:07:44 +0000 hfour http://hfour.jp/?p=127 A series 8 of paintings on 61x61cm plywood boards was completed for a group exhibition.  The subject matter is magazine models, painted in oil on untreated hardwood ply and then sealed.  Their message raises questions about beauty and nature.  Natural beauty is found everywhere, it is possible to see in many pristine locations which haven’t been adjusted by humans.  Natural beauty is also found in human faces: models are selected by their looks, because it is their appearance that is attractive to viewers which helps sell products.  However, their appearance is augmented with make-up and computers to improve the overall appeal and beauty.  The same augmentative activities are performed with natural materials and objects.  The natural beauty of wood grain does not appear without the help of humans and tools.  The plywood surfaces of the paintings are a form of ‘constructed nature’: they are perceived to be natural, but do not appear in nature.  Other examples include the Nautilus shell (the spiral aesthetic is invisible until the shell is cut), trans-axially cut fruit and polished stones.