SVA employee and alumnus Levent Cetiner (MFA 2005 Computer Art) recently used his creative skills to catch a burglar who was breaking into his Chelsea apartment—and the young artist did it remotely, via smartphone while seated at his desk six blocks away. Cetiner had set up a $50 motion detector in his apartment that, when triggered, sends real-time photos of the activity. He had originally purchased the device to use for an interactive art project, but then set it up to monitor his home when police issued a warning about recent burglaries in the neighborhood. “I hoped I wouldn’t actually have to use it, but I thought it was a good idea to have,” he told the New York Post.
When Centiner was alerted via e-mail that there was an intruder in his apartment, he called 911 and ran home. “I couldn’t get in because he locked the deadbolt from the inside,” he said. Centiner then shouted, “You’re being recorded, and the police are on the way!” When the police arrived moments later, Centiner used his smartphone to show them a photo of the man entering his top-floor apartment through a window off the fire escape. The law officers ended up finding the man hiding in the courtyard outside of the building and made the arrest.
MFA Computer Art Department faculty member and alumnus John F. Simon Jr. (MFA 1989 Computer Art) was one of a select few artists chosen to create an app for Icelandic singer Björk’s groundbreaking new album, Biophilia. The first app album ever created, Biophilia is divided into 10 separate apps (available for download at the iTunes App Store) and features vivid graphics, related essays, games and touch-screen capabilities, all designed to allow users to interact with the album on an iPad. The Briefs recently caught up with Simon, who also worked as software engineer and co-creative director with Björk on the project.
How would you explain this project to those who know nothing about it?
When you download Biophilia, it is like getting a CD of music, plus the little booklet that comes with it. The apps are like the booklet that you sit and flip through as you listen to the album. Except in this case, the booklet is interactive and includes games and instruments that let you jam along in the style of each track. You get to participate in the music in ways that are as unique as each song.
How did you get involved with the project, and what was your role?
The album has 10 tracks and 10 apps, each designed by a different artist. I was very lucky to be included with this really exceptional group of artists, designers and programmers. Scott Snibbe, a well-known designer of interactive experiences, was the lead developer. For the particular track I worked on, called “Mutual Core,” he needed an artist, an iPhone/iPad software engineer, and someone with a geology background, since the song is about tectonic plates and the Earth’s core. I happen to fit all three requirements. My role was to work with Björk as a sort of co-creative director to interpret the song into visual metaphors, then develop meaningful and interesting interactions, link the interactions to the music in a way that made a playable instrument, and finally make sure the piece supported the music education goals she had for it. In my case, the musical lesson is on “chords”—you make chords with the Earth’s tectonic plates and when the song plays you visualize the chords in the strata.
Do you think connecting music to apps is going to become a craze?
I hope so. Once you get into programming an iPad, the possibilities are mind blowing. The recorded music and the interactive instrument just seem to merge. I hope every musician will open up their music as generously through an interactive app. The only thing that might slow it down is how much more creativity and time it takes to produce apps.
What do you think the benefit of album apps is, opposed to the basic listening experience or a simple music video?
One great thing about my app is that you can hook your iPad to a desktop Mac and play the app instrument through Garage Band using any samples you want. “Mutual Core” sounds amazing with the Grand Piano samples. Then you can record, mix, etc., in all the custom instruments in the album. And all this is filtered through the design considerations and style of the track.
Are there any other comments you want to make on the project? It is surprising how much more interesting the iPad/hand gesture interface is for interaction and design than the desktop/mouse interface. I would not have believed how much richer the experience is until I had a focused project that made me really experiment with the possibilities. Being able to detect 10 touches at once, the multi-touch package alone has much more to offer instrument builders.
Images: Screenshots from “Mutual Core,” from Bjork’s Biophilia App Album. Courtesy of John F. Simon Jr.
Kyunghee Jwa (MFA 2011 Computer Art) and several 2011 graduates of the BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Department—David Chen, Naomi Chen, Michelle Czajkowski, Carl Fong, Krzysztof Fus, Chang Shuen Lee, and James McKenzie—won Special Recognition Jury Awards at the recent Metropolitan Area College Computer Animation Festival (MetroCAF).
The films that captured the honors were Piece Apart (watch below) by Kyunghee Jwa; King Killian by James McKenzie; Package Frank by Carl Fong and Chang Shuen Lee; and Rabbitkadabra by Michelle Czajkowski, David Chen, Krzysztof Fus and Naomi Chen.
In related news, Rabbitkadabra, as well as The Fear by Sung In Sohn (BFA 2011 Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects) have been accepted into this year’s SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Animation Festival in Hong Kong. For more info, visit SIGGRAPH.
Mark Twain’s Autobiography 1910 – 2010 (Fantagraphics Books) by Michael Kupperman (BFA 1988 Fine Arts): Having already paired Mark Twain with Albert Einstein as a superhero duo in his hilarious Tales Designed to Thrizzle comic series, Kupperman focuses solely on the current “life” of Twain in his absurdly satirical new book. To read an interview with Kupperman, visit SF Weekly.
D-Crit Chapbook #2: Dress (self-published) written and edited by students in the MFA Design Criticism Program: The second installment of this series turns a humorous eye on the fashion choices of public figures in the world of pop culture. Alan Rapp ponders Metallica frontman James Hetfield’s “bogus descent to Armani-toting sellout,” while Stephanie Jönsson critiques the wardrobe of Pope Benedict XVI. Eleven essays in all, with illustrations by Peter Arkle.
Immersion Into Noise (Open Humanities Press) by Joseph Nechvatal (MFA Computer Art faculty member): In his latest book, digital explorer and sound artist Nechvatal redefines “noise” as that which addresses us outside of our preferred comfort zones, and applies that audio understanding to the visual, architectural and cognitive domains to better understand “cultural noise.” To read the book online, click here. Part of Open Humanities Press’ “Critical Climate Change” series.
Three members of the SVA community recently received accolades for their work in film, from as far away as Shanghai to the near coast of Staten Island.
Sal Petrosino, director of operations for BFA Film, Video and Animation Department, took home awards for Best Director and Best Cinematographer at the recent Staten Island Film Festival for his short Crossroads. The film, about a Brooklyn bookie who blames God for giving him a learning disabled son, was primarily crewed by SVA students and faculty.
Dustin Grella (MFA 2009 Computer Art) recently received the Next Great Filmmaker Award for his stop-motion animation Prayers for Peace at the Berkshire International Film Festival. The short film confronts the memory of the artist’s younger brother who was killed during the current conflict in Iraq. Grella also has a new project in the works called Animation Hotline, a series of daily animations inspired by messages left on his voicemail. To leave a message, call 212.683.2490.
Mark Kendall (MFA 2011 Social Documentary) continues to garner attention for his short The Time Machine(watch it here). It was one of 50 films selected from over 10,000 entries to screen at the recent Shanghai International Film Festival. Nominated for Best Documentary, The Time Machine was also the only film from the United States in its category.
Image: Still from Crossroads. Courtesy of the artist.
The MFA Computer Art Department will commemorate the life and work of Steve Rutt, a legendary video and digital media producer who passed away on May 20 after succumbing to pancreatic cancer at the age of 66. “A Tribute to Steve Rutt: Video Visionary” will take place on Thursday, June 30, at 6:30pm in the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street. The event will include screenings of video, film and interactive work produced by Rutt, classic and new work created with the Rutt/Etra video synthesizer, and rare photographs and footage of Rutt.
Rutt, a New Yorker since his birth in 1945, was already wiring the auditorium at his school as a child, possibly as a result of early learning experiences in his family’s electronics company. In 1972 he developed the Rutt/Etra video synthesizer with Bill Etra. The 19-by-40-inch box allowed users to create animated images and special effects by changing video signal.
Rutt was the owner of Rutt Video & Interactive, a Manhattan-based video postproduction company, for more than 30 years. There, he mentored and employed numbers of SVA students, alumni and faculty members.
The MFA Computer Art Department is presenting “Digital Manifestations,” an exhibition of thesis projects bringing together digital video, 3D animation, motion graphics and interactive installations. The exhibition, curated by Charley Lewis, is at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26 Street, 15th floor, until June 4, with a reception on Thursday, May 26, 6 – 8pm.
Projects include: Ashley Gerst’s Cat Tunnel, a blend of 3D, 2D and stop motion animation about a young woman and her cat; Jason Kass’ Second Nature, a series of abstract paintings and drawings placed among videos of rendered natural scenes; and Alan Schaffer’s InInternetWeTrust, an interactive audio-visual installation where the user can explore a 3D virtual environment. To see images and get more information about the show, visit the exhibition page on the SVA site.
Of the 33 filmmakers from 22 U.S. colleges and universities that have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards competition, two of them are from the SVA community. Yen-Ting Kuo (MFA 2010 Computer Art) was picked for his film Swing in the Animation category, and Mark Kendall (current MFA Social Documentary Film Department student)is nominated for The Time Machine in the Documentary category. Kuo recently won an AniMazSpot Award and Kendall was recently awarded a Trailer Festival Award.
The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past SVA students recognized by the Academy include Dustin Grella(MFA 2009 Computer Art), who won an award last year, and Kwibum Chung (MFA 2008 Computer Art), who won a Silver Medal the year before.
Alumnus Carlos Saldanha’s (MFA 1993 Computer Art) new film Rio has been featured in Animation Magazine, which described it as, “a visually stunning valentine to the birds, the beauty and infectious music of Brazil.” Making his hometown and its colorful culture and flora and fauna the central point of the new CG-animated movie, Saldanha says, “I actually started to think about the idea of doing a movie about Brazil and birds back when I was working on Robots…I cast the movie thinking about the real birds that I loved in Rio, and I didn’t want to stylize them so much that they would be unrecognizable.” Also, in a recent interview in the Wall Street Journal, Saldanha talks about the challenges of making the colors more vibrant in 3D, his preparatory study of real birds and the importance of featuring Brazilian music in the film.
SVA’s Office of Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS), in collaboration with the International Student Office (ISO), has been offering ongoing support services for international students at the College. Since the fall 2010 semester, SHCS has held a bi-weekly support group for international students who are adjusting to life in the United States, in New York City and at SVA, and convened a special session after the earthquake in Japan to support Japanese students and alumni affected by those tragic events.
The groups are facilitated by Navah Steiner, a licensed creative arts therapist and psychotherapist at SHCS, and Monique Yi-Chieh Wu, an intern from New York University’s drama therapy program (Wu is an international graduate student from Taiwan and brings her personal perspective on the issues that students face when coming to study in the US). One participant, MFA Computer Art Department student Kurt Young, wrote about his experience in the group: “I found this group to be most helpful for me; you really helped me to speak out what’s on my mind. I also learned a lot about Americans during our conversation in group, and what’s more important is that I met my best friend here. To me this group is not only helpful to my life but also inspiring to my work.” For more information on SHCS services, contact health@sva.edu; for more information on ISO services, contact iso@sva.edu.
