7/2/2002
Kidspace
Mass MoCA, North Adams
Interactive Video Works by Camille Utterback. Engaging Space, the new spring/summer exhibition in Kidspace, will feature four interactive video works by Camille Utterback: Arc Tangent, Liquid Time, Written Forms, and Luminous Flux. Each of these pieces includes a projected image and a video camera, which picks up a person's body shape and movement and feeds the incoming signals to a computer.
to Present Interactive Video Works by Camille Utterback
Engaging Space, the new spring/summer
exhibition in Kidspace, will feature four interactive video works by Camille
Utterback: Arc Tangent, Liquid Time, Written Forms, and Luminous Flux. Each
of these pieces includes a projected image and a video camera, which picks
up a person's body shape and movement and feeds the incoming signals to a
computer. The visitor can interact with the images and change them simply
by moving in the space in front of the image, in some cases altering colors,
texts, and patterns, and in another, fragmenting time in a stored video
clip. The results are beautiful images in which fragmented abstract shapes
and rich colors weave in and out of recognizable video images.
In Luminous Flux, for example, as participants move in front of the camera,
the visual accumulation of their motions is projected on a screen to produce
a stunning, temporary outline of their body in red and green. Vertical
edges are represented in green and horizontal edges in red. For Liquid
Time, Utterback has recently shot video footage of street scenes in Tokyo.
The projected image is "whole" until a participant moves in the space in
front of the projected image. When "shadowed" in this way, the image
advances forward or rewinds only in the section obscured by the
participant's body. These "time shadowed" sections appear out of sequence
and fragmented until the participant moves away from the camera projections,
at which point the video returns to its original, unaltered state. As
Utterback describes it, "in the Liquid Time installation, the interface of
one's body-which can only exist in one place, at one time-is the means to
create a space in which multiple times and perspectives coexist. The
resulting imagery can be described as video cubism."
"We are thrilled to present this exhibition of interactive video works by
Camille Utterback," said Molly Polk, associate curator of Kidspace.
"Utterback's work is incredibly beautiful and challenging and will serve as
an excellent basis for teaching children about the visual arts and the
medium of video as well as about the nature of interactive media, language,
science, and technology. The work in this exhibition is engaging on many
different levels; students of all ages, teachers, and parents will enjoy
it."
For Engaging Space, visitors will not only interact with Utterback's video
works but will have the opportunity to work with a variety of transparent
and translucent materials to create artworks of their own. Light boxes will
be set up in Kidspace for visitors to use in the composition of these works.
This project will develop children's understanding of how light is integral
to many forms of artwork, including video, and provide an opportunity for
them to experiment with composition, color combination, and translucent
montage.
Utterback is a pioneering artist and programmer in the field of interactive
installation. Utterback was selected by Res Magazine as artist pick of the
year for its 'Annual Res 10 - Ten People who are making a difference in
their field' (2000), and was recently nominated for a Rockefeller Fellowship
in New Media Art (2001). NYU has filed for a patent on an interactive
system Utterback developed while working as an Interval Research Fellow at
the University. Utterback has developed commissioned installations for
Herman Miller, Shiseido, and The American Museum of Natural History, and is
currently working on a new piece for the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. She
received a BA from Williams College and a Masters degree from the
Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
In addition to her artistic and commercial work, She also teaches as an
adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design.
This spring, Kidspace will expand its work with local schools, beginning a
partnership with the Northern Berkshire School Union. All students and
teachers from Clarksburg, Gabriel Abbott Memorial, and Savoy schools will
participate in the Kidspace program, which includes visiting the Utterback
exhibition and working on an intensive curriculum guide developed by
Kidspace. The curriculum includes lessons in analyzing media, basic color
theory, pixels, composition, and texts in pictures.
Kidspace at MASS MoCA is a joint program of the Sterling & Francine Clark
Art Institute, the Williams College Museum of Art, and MASS MoCA.
Additional funding has been provided in part by the Massachusetts Cultural
Council (a state agency), the GE Fund, the Cherkis family, and the Brownrigg
Charitable Trust in memory of Lynn Laitman. Additional funding for Engaging
Space has been provided by the James and Robert Hardman Fund for North Adams
of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute Grant to Williams College, and the Center for Technology and
Humanities and the English department at Williams College.
Through May, Kidspace is open to the public every Thursday from 3-5 P.M. and
Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 P.M. During February school vacation
(February 18 through 22), Kidspace will be open the 18th from 1:30 - 4 P.M.
and on the 19th, 20th, and 21st from 1 to 4 P.M. Kidspace will announce
extended summer hours in May. Admission to Kidspace is free.
MASS MoCA, housed on a 13-acre campus of restored 19th-century factory
buildings, is the largest center for contemporary art in the country.
Through May 31, MASS MoCA's galleries are open 11 AM - 5 PM, closed Tuesdays
except for February 19. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for
seniors/students, $2 for children 6-16, free for children under 6 and free
for members at all times.
For additional information call 413 662 2111
MASS MoCA
1040 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA 01247
413-664-4481 ext. 8111
FX: 413-663-8548