Vancouver in Stereo - Channel One

Interactive Futures is a rad little festival/symposium in Vancouver. It?s theme this year was stereo. The dominant representation in that theme was stereoscopic video (3D glasses kind of stuff), but the symposium expanded the concept through into more intellectual considerations on the idea of stereo in creative technological practice. Day one IF had heavy representation from a wide variety of approaches in stereo, but day two veered off into the intellectual with presentations by Steve Dietz, Paula Levine and Ottawa's own Catherine Richards.

At first the tech loving side of me questioned the drift away from the purely stereoscopic presentations. Expanding the notions of stereo into our dual existence, divided between the technological mediated living and the un-plugged world seemed to be stretching the concept, but as each very intelligent presenter laid out their perspective I was engaged beyond my simple techno-fascination. In fact, I felt a little embarrassed at my simple boyish fetishization of the seductive left eye/right eye images. This was perhaps most pronounced when Catherine Richards pointed out the parallels between our reaction to stereo and the anecdote about the first witnesses to the power of cinema who leaped out of the way of the train on screen. My love of the stereo had been exposed for a kind of old world innocence. I felt naked without my 21^st century cynicism.

But despite the increased critical focus the academics brought to my binocular experience, I think that the fascination with the development of stereo video is warranted. The creation of culture within a critical and academic context heavily encourages the development of cerebral conceptual work, and there is much in the newly accessible stereo work that focuses on simple wonder. Wonder in art often reduces me to simplistic "Cool!" or "Awesome!" reviews of the experience, and while I try to be cautious of my own spectacle fetishism I worry about the schism in contemporary culture between spectacular and meaningful work. Few seem to be able to marry the two, but many of the artist at Interactive Futures, particularly Willy Lemaitre and Munro Ferguson, are able to create meaningful work that embraces the wonder of the technique.

Willy Lemaitre, Edia

Will follow up with more from Infteractive Futures, when I have caught up with all the work waiting for me at my desk back here at the engine.

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Stereolab - tricks for the eye from the NFB

Ottawa's Animation International Animation festival took place this past weekend, and although I was a little swamped with the coming Nite Ride I did manage to squeeze in the stereoscopic presentations from the National Film Board's StereoLab. The StereoLab has been around the NFB since the late 90's and one of it's central elements is the IMAX SANDDE system (Stereo Animation Drawing Device) which uses a wand and stereoscopic projection system to allow you to draw in three dimensional space. The OAIF presented a screening of the stereoscopic work and a panel presentation with animators Claire Blanchet, Munro Ferguson and Theodore Ushev as well as NFB Associate Producer Maral Mohammadian.

The screening was an interesting mix with some classic NFB product capping it off with Facing Champlain. It had the largest budget in the bunch, and although it was interesting to see the fruits of a more extensive team's engagement with the technology it suffered from the trappings of the NFB brand as it grappled with national identity in a suitable progressive educational context. The most endearing piece was from Winnipeg artists Matthew Rankin and Mike Maryniuk. Although far more DIY than the work from the Stereolab it's crafty style brought it to life in a more tactile way than some of the other works. Theodore Ushev's work was also very independent and DIY in terms of his approach to creating stereoscopic works using mainly After Effects. Parts of his piece where incredibly detailed and visually stunning. Claire Blanchet also mustered some incredible moments of visual mind-fuckery. Her work, which was a collaboration with a group of electro-acoustic musicians, really got wings when it delved into the more experimental stuff she was produced while working on the SANDDE system.

June, 2003 Munro Ferguon

Also in the show was work from animator Munro Ferguson who also gave a demonstration of the SANDDE system. This IMAX developed technology uses a wand and a stereoscopic screen set up to allow you to draw in three dimensional space. (Here is a link if you want to read a bit more about it.) Munro's work June was a really lovely illustration of how the tool works well with an animators sensibility. The abstract shapes that where layered and unfolded where neither typical 3D nor where there 2D animations given a layered treatment. They where something new and unique.

Creatively this machine had my head spinning. I had trouble concentrating on what the panelist where saying because I just wanted to start jotting down all kinds of ideas and possibilities. I hope this is something we can connect to at Artengine, so if there are artists around who are interested in stereoscopy please drop us a line. This is the kind of thing we built the lab for!

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