Interactive video installation workshops in Toronto

[Jeff Mann]

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     InterAccess seeks Participants for "Tactile Video" Workshops

          Artist David Rokeby to lead interactive
          video installation project


TORONTO, Canada - January 29, 1999 - InterAccess Electronic Media Arts
Centre and the Art & Robotics Group will select artists to participate
in the "Tactile Video" intensive workshop. Led by award-winning artist
David Rokeby, the workshop utilizes the "Max" interactive programming
environment and electronic sensor devices to control full-screen
QuickTime video projections. Participants will produce sculptural
installation works which engage the human body and create a sense of
tactility and physical presence. A selection of the works produced will
be exhibited as part of the Images Festival of Independent Film and
Video in April, 1999.

The "Tactile Video" intensive workshop takes place over five consecutive
weekends February 27 to March 28, 1999 (Saturday and Sunday, 11am-5pm)
plus production activities on weekdays. Application deadline is Tuesday,
February 9th.

          See below for application requirements. 


Contact:  Project Coordinator/Curator - Jeff Mann 
          mailto:jefman at utcc.utoronto.ca
Web Site: http://www.interaccess.org/arg/tv


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Tactile Video

Ephemeral visions - 30 apparitions per second - trying to get in
touch... can interactive video cross over from cyberspace into material
reality? Spectres of light with animalistic awareness, ubiquitous
presence, sensation, impression, embraceable tactility. Would you rather
point and click, or dance and kiss?

The Tactile Video project investigates and expands artistic practice in
the use of interactive, computer-controlled video and "live" processing
techniques using readily available desktop video systems. It emphasizes
innovative applications in immersive, performative, and installation
environments with responsive human interface alternatives to the
standard "point-and-click" computer screen. 

The first phase of the project, now completed, presented a series of
public seminars featuring Bill Buxton, Paul Garrin, Nancy Paterson, Don
Ritter, David Rokeby, "Screen" (Eric Rosenzveig and Willy LeMaitre), Tom
Sherman, and Nell Tenhaaf.

In the second phase of the project, InterAccess and the Art & Robotics
Group will invite a number of artists to participate in a month-long
production intensive workshop led by David Rokeby and assisted by Jeff
Mann. Weekend workshops will focus on the use of the "Max" interactive
programming environment to control playback of full-screen, full-motion
video via QuickTime and a video projector. David Rokeby has created "a
series of extensions to the 'Max' language to deal with the low level
management of QuickTime, allowing the participants to focus on the more
interesting questions of the nature of the relationship between video
and the audience they would like to construct." Rokeby's "Very Nervous
System" and Parallax's "BASIC Stamp" microcontroller will be employed to
sense motion, distance, touch, sound, "live" objects, etc., in order to
create a sensation of physical connection and tactile presence - the
integration of video imagery with the physical environment and human
body.

Participating artists will be encouraged to form production crews of two
to six people. The electronic media production studio at InterAccess
will be available for crews to work independently, on weekdays and
evenings during March. A selection of the works is planned for
exhibition at the InterAccess gallery during the Images Festival in
April. 

Application Procedure

Those wishing to be considered as participants should forward a current
curriculum vitae and brief (500 words or less) statement of interest to:

InterAccess, attn: Jeff Mann
Suite #444
401 Richmond Street West
Toronto, ON
Canada M5V 3A8

by Fax: (416) 599-7015
by e-mail: jefman at utcc.utoronto.ca

Application deadline is Tuesday, February 9th, 1999. Notification of
acceptance will be on Thursday, February 11th.

All practicing artists may apply; selection will include a balance of
those with experience levels in electronic media from beginning to
advanced. However, participants must demonstrate a serious interest and
be willing to commit a significant amount of time for five consecutive
weekend-long workshops (Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 5pm), plus
production activities on weekdays and/or evenings, and to complete a
substantial interactive video installation or performance work by the
end of the workshop.

Tuition Fee

The "Tactile Video" project is funded by the Canada Council for the
Arts, and by InterAccess. To preclude economic barriers to artists'
participation, the normal tuition fee ($500 US / $750 CDN) will be
waived for InterAccess members. InterAccess membership costs $50
CDN/year, and requires a brief interview. Please call InterAccess at
(416) 599-7206 for more information about becoming a member.

However, since space is limited for this unique opportunity, a deposit
of $200 CDN will be required. The deposit will be refunded upon
successful completion of the workshop. Participants who miss more than
two days of the workshops, or otherwise fail to participate, will
forfeit the deposit.

Tactile Video Personnel and Sponsors

David Rokeby is an interactive sound- and video-installation artist
based in Toronto, Canada. He has been creating interactive installations
since 1982. His work has been exhibited in shows across Canada, the
United States, Europe, Japan and Korea. He was awarded the first
Petro-Canada Award for Media Arts in 1988 and the Prix Ars Electronica
Award of Distinction for Interactive Art (Austria) in 1991.
http://www.interlog.com/~drokeby

Jeff Mann is founder of Toronto's Art & Robotics Group collective, and
producer/coordinator of its "SpaceProbe" and "Tactile Video" projects. A
former faculty member of the Ontario College of Art's New Media program,
his work in telecommunications art, video, sound, and electronic
installation has been exhibited internationally. He is a long-standing
board member of InterAccess, and is now employed at Charles Street Video
in Toronto.
http://www.interlog.com/~jefman

InterAccess is Canada's premiere Electronic Media Arts Centre devoted
exclusively to the production and exhibition of electronic art. A
non-profit, artist-run centre, it consists of a gallery space in
downtown Toronto, and an adjoining electronic media production studio.
It offers a full public programme of shows, artist talks, performances,
workshops, production projects and other events, in addition to artists'
access to electronics and multimedia tools. It is currently the home of
the Art & Robotics Group artists' collective. Contact: Kathleen Pirrie
Adams, Programming Director; Mark Jones, Administrative Director.
http://www.interaccess.org


Tactile Video is presented by InterAccess, and the Art & Robotics Group.


We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts
which last year invested $6.2 million in media arts throughout Canada.
           The Canada Council for the Arts, Since 1957
                   http://www.canadacouncil.ca
Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a
investi 6,2 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les arts médiatiques a
travers le Canada.
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-- 
Jeff Mann - Information Consumer ___O___O__= -- >
mailto:jefman at utcc.utoronto.ca ||   http://www.interlog.com/~jefman
Visit the Art & Robotics Group site: http://www.interaccess.org/arg