Sights And Sounds: Explorations In The Arts
Art Meets Computer Science
Equipped with a navigation device similar to a Playstation controller and a pair of 3-D vision glasses, the viewer—or, more accurately, the participant—enters the virtual realm.
As scientists hasten to assess the impact of climate change on our physical environment, scholars in the humanities and the arts have begun to ponder how global warming will affect human culture. Such is the inquiry posed by Surge, a collaborative multimedia artwork by Deborah Cornell, associate professor of art in the School of Visual Arts, and her husband Richard Cornell, associate professor of composition in the School of Music. Surge—which the Cornells describe as “an exploration of the reciprocal influence of environmental change on human culture”—was created with software developed by Boston University programmers and intended for exhibition in the Scientific Computing and Visualization group's Computer Graphics Laboratory. In April, the Cornells premiered the work for the 2007 Boston CyberArts Festival, a biennial festival of international artists working in cutting-edge computer-based media. Surge was projected onto the lab's 15' x 8' Deep Vision Display Wall, equipped with an eight-speaker sound system.
The profound effect of climate change on human life plays out in images from Surge and Acqua Alta by Deborah Cornell. In virtual reality and large-scale digital prints, cultural expressions combine with images of natural forces. From top to bottom: Still images from Surge, including a global view of the Surge environment and a Venetian mask with dice; details from Memory, City of Dust, and Faces Vanish—large-scale digital prints with transparent overlays from the installation Acqua Alta.
Concerned by the various effects climate change has on the world, Richard and Deborah Cornell began working on Surge through research that was largely experiential, informed by visits to Venice, Argentina, and other places where rising sea levels pose a distinct threat. The couple first collaborated in 1999 and have since presented three joint projects in venues such as the High-Speed Access Grid, concert halls in the United States and Taiwan, and galleries and museums both stateside and abroad. A sabbatical leave during the 2006-2007 academic year enabled both professors to spend a month in Buenos Aires, where they presented their joint project Acqua Alta at Proyecto'ace, a contemporary art center. Consisting of nine 3' x 5' digital prints and an original soundtrack, this installation also explored changes in sea level.
Engaging with similar themes and imagery, the virtual environment in Surge consists of a luminous spherical shape floating in black space. Equipped with a navigation device similar to a Playstation controller and a pair of 3-D vision glasses, the viewer—or, more accurately, the participant—enters the virtual realm. Inside, he or she meets a variety of objects and creatures, each symbolic of humankind's impact on the natural environment. Three “lifeboats” containing images of human chromosomes float in the center of the sphere, while a colorful jester's head and Venetian Carnivale masks remind the audience of the threat Venice faces from rising water levels. Hovering nearby, a quotation from The Tempest takes on a new connotation in the context of global warming: “Nothing of him that doth fade / But doth suffer a sea-change.”
Surge's soundtrack, carefully synched to one's movement through the virtual space, enhances the journey. Running water, a rumbling thunderstorm, and other nature noises combine with sounds evocative of human culture, such as a Monteverdi choral passage and the ringing of the Lutine bell, recovered from a sunken British vessel of the same name.
Boston University students in Laura Giannitrapani's 3-D Animation and Design class also participated in the CyberArts Festival. As the manager of graphics consulting for BU's Scientific Computing and Visualization lab, Giannitrapani has collaborated with the Cornells on several of their virtual artworks. Her students' piece, Interactions, uses technology similar to that of Surge and also addresses humankind's effect on the environment. Zoom in on a polar bear, for example, and watch it lumber across an iceberg while a chunk of the mass breaks off and falls into the water below. Both entertaining and educational, Interactions presents an innovative method for instructing young children about climate change.
“Cyberart can be anything from an examination of complex ideas about the nature of reality to sheer unadulterated fun,” wrote BBC reporter Rachel Rawlins of the 2007 CyberArts Festival. “And if you're lucky,” she added, “both at the same time.” Surge and Interactions fulfill these criteria in encouraging playful exploration of the virtual realm, as well as serious reflection upon our relationship with the natural environment.
For more information, see http://people.bu.edu/rcrnl.
