[FISEA 1988] Curators Statement: Wim van der Plas & Wim Bijleveld — Omnimax Animation Competition

Curators Statement

This part of the programme consisted of the premiere of two productions made for FISEA – the prize winners of the international ‘Omniversum-competition’. This was an idea of – and was initiated by Wim van der Plas and Wim Bijleveld. The international Omniversum-competition was juried by Rudi Fuchs, Wim Bijleveld and Willem Nagelkerke. The Omniversum is an Omnimax theatre in The Hague. It is fit for 70mm film projection and it is a very large dome. The two prize winners were Ronald Nameth from Stockholm and the duo P. Walboom and M.Y Zult from the Hague. These artists received the opportunity to realise their concepts on the Digistar Installation at the Omniversum, in collaboration with its director, Wim Bijleveld. The Digistar installation is especially developed for projects concerning star constellations and complex simulations of astronomical phenomena on the spherical plane of projection (made by Omnimax theaters). The Digistar installation offered the artists many creative possibilities to project and animate images, accompanied by music. Despite the short preparation and limited experience, the results were stimulating! Furthermore, a selection of video and computer-animation submissions was also shown in the dome.

From the Report of the First International Symposium on Electronic Art (translation from Dutch Google Translate)

An international competition for artists was organized in close collaboration between Fisea and the Omniversum in The Hague. The submissions were judged by a jury consisting of Rudi Fuchs (director of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague), Wim Bijleveld (director of the Omniversum in The Hague), and Willem Nagelkerke (former director of Rietschoten & Houwens and board member of the SCCA). In the summer of 1988, this jury selected two prize-winning proposals, respectively from: 1. the Swede Ronald Nameth from Stockholm and 2. the Dutch artists P. Walboom and M.Y. Zult from The Hague. These artists were given the opportunity to realize their proposals in close collaboration with Wim Bijleveld, director of the Omniversum, using the Digistar installation. This Digistar installation was specifically developed for projecting starry skies and complex simulations of astronomical phenomena onto the spherical projection surface of Omnimax theaters like the Omniversum. The Digistar also offers creative opportunities for artists to project, animate, and add music to images.

Despite the limited preparation time and experience, the results were highly stimulating and are expected to lead to follow-up projects on behalf of the Omniversum in the near future and possibly become accessible to a wider audience. Many non-Fisea participants also took advantage of the opportunity to explore this new electronic art form.

Winners:

  • Ronald Nameth, Stockholm, SE
  • P. Walboom & M.Y Zult, The Hague, NL

Jury

  • Rudi Fuchs, director of the The Hague Municipal Museum, NL
  • Wim Bijleveld, director of the Omniversum theater and planetarium, The Hague, NL
  • Willem Nagelkerke, NL [1922-2010], CEO of Van Rietschoten & Houwens industries and board member of the SCCA (Foundation for Creative Computer Applications), Rotterdam, NL

Initiator

  • Wim van der Plas, managing director, Foundation for Creative Computer Applications (SCCA), NL

The Fisea participants were transported to the Omniversum by buses provided by the municipality of Utrecht.