Emergent Digital Practices

Steina & Woody Vasulka Visiting Artists

2011-02-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

Steina and Woody Vasulka

Visiting Artist Public Events

February 14-25, 2011

eMAD & Digital Media Studies Programs

School of Art & Art History

University of Denver

Steina Vasulka: Hamilton Visiting Artist

Woody Vasulka: Marsico Visiting Artist

Schedule of Public Events:

Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 7-8:30PM

Steina Vasulka

Logan Lecture

Denver Art Museum

Sharp Auditorium

Reservations: call 720.913.0150

Thursday, February 17, 2011, 11AM-noon

Steina and Woody Vasulka

Roundtable forum “ Keeping New Media Alive”

The Cloud, C-cubed Studios, 2nd Floor, Shwayder Art Building

University of Denver

2121 East Asbury Avenue

Monday, February 21, 2010, 7-8:30PM

Woody Vasulka

Lecture, “Image to Object”

Hypercube, C-cubed Studios, 2nd Floor, Shwayder Art Building

University of Denver

2121 East Asbury Avenue

Reception to follow

Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 7 -8:30PM

Steina Vasulka

Performance, “Violin Power”

Hypercube, C-cubed Studios, 2nd Floor, Shwayder Art Building

University of Denver

2121 East Asbury Avenue

NOTE: there is limited seating for this performance event

RSVP by 2/21/11 to tweaver2[at]du.edu for access

Reception to follow

Bios

Steina Vasulka: HAMILTON VISITING ARTIST

Born in Iceland and trained as a violinist, Steinunn Briem Bjarnadottir (Steina) is a major figure, considered legendary, in the field of electronic and video art. She received a scholarship in 1959 to study at the Prague Conservatory, where she met Woody Vasulka. They married in 1964 and moved to New York in 1965, where she worked as a freelance musician. She started using video in 1969, and embraced it wholeheartedly when she discovered that, with it, she could control the movement of time. In 1971, along with Woody Vasulka and Andres Mannik, she founded The Kitchen, a performance space devoted to electronic media.

Her collaborative work with Woody in that period was remarkable for its interworking of audio and video signals. The goal of these phenomenological exercises was to explore the essence of the electronic image and sound. Steina's installations often involved electronically manipulated visual and acoustic landscapes. For example, the installation Orka, shown at Iceland's pavilion at the 1997 Venice Biennale, juxtaposed two transformative natural forces - water and fire - which, in their various manifestations (volcanic eruptions, waterfalls, glaciers), reveal the workings of time. In 1991, she undertook a series of interactive performances with a MIDI violin, which let her generate video images as she played (Violin Power). In tandem with Woody, she was awarded the 1992 Maya Deren Prize and, in 1995, the Siemens Media Art prize. In 1992. Her installations and videos have been shown throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Since 1980, the Vasulkas have been based in Santa

Fe, New Mexico.

Woody Vasulka: MARSICO VISITING ARTIST

Born in Brno, Czech Republic, Woody Vasulka studied film in Prague. He made several documentaries before relocating to the United States in 1965 with his wife Steina. He then worked as editor on a number of film projects, and experimented with electronic sound and strobe light. In 1969, dissatisfied with film, he started using video.

With Steina, he worked to explore the nature of electronic image and sound, and directed several documentaries on the New York City avant-garde, and more specifically the theatre, dance and music produced at that time. In 1974, the Vasulkas moved to Buffalo where they taught at the Center for Media Studies at the State University of New York (SUNY). In 1980, he left his teaching post and continued research into what he called "a new epistemological space."

Using new media tools, Woody Vasulka sets forth a critique of the dramatic space of traditional film and theatre, while exploring new forms of narration. Among his many prizes and awards are an honorary doctorate conferred by the San Francisco Arts Institute in 1998 to both Woody and Steina, and the National Association of Media and Culture's award to both artists honouring their exceptional contribution to the field of media arts.

More information at

Deep gratitude to the Hamilton Family Foundation and the DU Marsico Visiting Scholar Fund for their generous support of these events

Global Game Jam at C-cubed Studios

2011-01-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

The University of Denver is hosting a site of the Global Game Jam in the newly remodeled C3 Studios.

We have 50 registered participants from across Colorado, where we are the only site in the state. Roughly 40 participants have shown up so far. We have a mixture of working professional game developers, DU alums, DU grad students, DU undergraduate students, and high school students. Some of the high school students had participated in our prior NSF-sponsored game camps as well.

Global Game Jam participants brainstorming after announcement of the jam's theme, "Extinction."

Global Game Jam is a 48 hour game-development and local community building event of international proportions. It emphasizes collaboration, cooperation, and thinking on your feet. Global Game Jam is the largest single activity organized by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

There are currently 44 countries represented.
There are 170 registered sites with 33% of those in the US.
There are 6878 individual participants registered as of this writing.

For greater detail:
http://www.globalgamejam.org/status/
http://www.globalgamejam.org/

C-cubed Celebration!

2011-01-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

On January 10th the Digital Media Studies and Electronic Media Arts & Design programs celebrated the completion of the C-cubed Studios (A Center for Creativity and Collaboration). Activities throughout the space invited the students in both programs to understand what is possible in these amazing new studios.

In the new Lab students learned to solder and assemble digital cockroaches that scurry and blink when in the dark.

The Make Spaces hosted a new audio visual artwork by Graduate student Darwin Grosse and Associate Professor Trace Reddell.
Also in the Make Spaces was the kinetic sculpture, "Points of Volatility" by Assistant Professor Chris Coleman.
The Cloud was host to a DIY 3D Printer, the Makerbot Cupcake, printing C-cubed keychains for attendees.

Also in the Cloud was an interactive projection by Graduate student Andrew Blanton.

In the Node was an extensive library of books about New Media Art and Theory, Data Visualization, Humane Games and more. Attendees could also download student made podcasts or just sit and listen to them while paging through the books.

The Nexus hosted two gaming systems, one dedicated to playing music as a group and the other to flying challenges.

In the Leo Block Lab attendees shared and played numerous student created games.

Throughout the night students got a chance to play with audio and video performance tools in the Hypercube. Graduate student Darwin Grosse, Associate Professor Tim Weaver, Associate Professor Trace Reddell, and Graduate student Cory Metcalf all shared their tools to provide a hands-on experience.

The evening wrapped up with a special performance by Mark Mosher who showcased his very physical digital music making with glowing sensor cubes and a repurposed theremin. Afterwards he discussed both the technical and conceptual aspects of his work.

We are hosting a location of the Global Game Jam, 2011

2011-01-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

January 28-30, 2011

C3 Studios

Shwayder Art Building