From the
classic innovators to the new school artistic team collaborators of today, art
has a long history, and will always be with us, and will always reflect our
cultural, political, environmental, economical, and daily times which we
preside.
German
native Oskar Fischinger caught my attention through his stunning films dating
back to the 1930’s. His abstraction was not widely accepted, though his
international studies brought footage from all over the world. By the age of 35
he already had 30 short films under his belt. While he resided in Germany, the
Nazi government abolished abstract art. His English was poor, but his talent
was respected in many places. Paramount Pictures brought him to America where
he worked diligently with big names like Dvorak’s New World Symphony and on Walt
Disney’s classic film Fantasia. Although he worked on many big projects, he was
not credited for many of them due to complications of all sorts. His patented
1955 invention The Lumigraph did not get utilized in the way he hoped for, but
it did take on new forms decades later.
Ivan Navarro
is young, hip, original, and a pioneer when compared to today’s standards. His
art is visually captivating and could appear in any major metropolis. The way
he makes the brightest lights fade to black creating the illusion of depth in
works like “Record” in 2007, make the viewer question how deep exactly does the
piece get. The florescent tubing he
manipulates can be a simple arrangement or a mobile or stationary spectacle to
make a political statement or just done out of pure enjoyment.
After
watching Leo Villareal’s interviews, he is a true visionary on a large scale. The
way he can chain a multitude of single light bulbs together to make a
concoction to dance to their surroundings, is right up my alley. Villareal’s
first big installment consisted of a series of 16-light structure that acted
like a strobe light. Villareal respund the 1970’s mathematician John Conway’s
light cell board called “The Game of Life” and recreated an LED version of it.
This is an interactive light board grid resembling the modern game “Tetris.” I will be researching grad school in the
Interactive Telecommunications Program because of him.
Island6
opened its artistic doors in 2006 was founded by Thomas Charveriat and became
concrete and officially a world reknowned art center spread into four locations
in Moganshan Lu, Shanghai. This is a very artistic part of Shanghai. There have
been more than 500 artists from all over the world represented here and almost
150 local artists of that region. LED
artist Liu Dau in Mandarin translates to Island number 6. The Liu Dau
Collective mixes technology, culture, art, and science. This is a hip group
keeping up with current trends and making giant leaps to remain trendy. The
Collective focuses on a collaborative effort and not so much the individual.
Each installment made on site works like this. Their works have made it to the
hippest art fairs worldwide. There is definitely a feel of a community in the
air at Island6.
I was just speaking
to my trendy friends right up the road in Syracuse last weekend and groups like
40 Below, Syracuse First, the Technology Garden; they are all about community
brainstorming and sharing. I believe if you have a great idea and a skill to
chip in on the blood, sweat and tears part of the project, but you need help in
certain fields, then finding organizations like Island6, and the few I just
mentioned from Syracuse, then get with the times and link up with innovators
like these groups.
