Artist Statement 

Symposium Identity (poster and introductory animation) Rationale

“The Art Factor” is the focus of the symposium, with the merging of art and technology (the flesh/prosthesis – ir/rational dualism) as a key topic for dialogue. The “unsure-of-its-identity” body becomes the center of attention in art. Technology used to enhance the body also determines to some degree what the body should be (an object? a piece of equipment? an artwork?). Enabled by science, the artist’s territory is expanding to the medium of life itself (artificial intelligence, Wetware, virtual worlds). The body loses its definition, becoming a refractive medium through which science and art explore and question each other.

Anonymous, wired Christ-head immersed in fluid tissue — the human/machine hybrid “icon” — as the brutal reconciliation site.

“The Art Factor” may be interpreted as enhancing the technological interface with feeling, emotion, and other human qualities, and, at the same time, empowering artists with new technologies. An unknown territory lies where emotional machines meet the artist-cyborg. The language of the emerging culture needs yet to be defined, as the strugle to accommodate the machine continues.

Sound: Alex Tylevich & Midori Komatsubara
Production Resources: Lamb & Company
Production Assistance: Scott Gaff
Animation Assistance: Heidi Spaeth
Software: Wavefront Technologies/Lamb & Company
Hardware: Silicon Graphics
Special thanks to Larry Lamb and everyone at Lamb & Company, Fisea93, Viewpoint Animation Engineering.

ISEA Archives Video Channel:

• Alex Tylevich, Lamb & Company, Minneapolis, USA