As technologies develop, artists adapt and respond, inquiring into their potential and often presenting unusual perspectives on their promises. In some cases, the inner workings of a given technology become the center of attention, in others, the unusual use of a given technique shows how hidden possibilities lie behind the established narratives.
For Google I/O 2018, MoDa is focusing on Augmented Reality, Machine Learning, mobile development and our relationship with personal devices. Adam Ferris and Katherine Hollenbach from the UCLA Conditional Studio explore two hot topics in today's conversation around our computer's ability to learn. Harald Haraldsson presents the fruits of his exploration in the use of Augmented Reality as a cinematic tool, and Freeka Tet invites the audience to use phones as musical instruments, control systems and interfaces into synthetic environments.
Leveraging technologies developed or maintained by Google (Pixel phones, Firebase, ARCore, and GAN among others), MoDa showcases creative uses for these tools and platforms, and in the process invites its audience to a novel interaction with familiar systems.
Kate Hollenbach and Adam Ferriss with the UCLA Arts Conditional Studio - Los Angeles
The UCLA Arts Conditional Studio focuses on the intersections of software with art, politics, and everyday life. In this investigation, software can indicate everything from source code, networks, and UI patterns, to objects, ways of thinking, and practices of creation. They present two new pieces expanding on their "Impure Functions" series - i.e functions that re-contextualize their inputs. Kate Hollenbach piece plays with our relationship to data and how it can be correlated to a person's behavior, both as an individual and as part of a group, in essence creating data "portraits". Adam Ferris' interpretation combines Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) and computer vision to create new faces for attendees based on a corpus of facial imagery fed to the network, pushing Machine Learning's potential to both learn and create.
Harald Haraldsson - New York
Harald is an Icelandic artist based out of New York, currently a resident at Cornell Tech's "Connected Experiences Lab". Harald holds master's degree in computer engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology. He is presenting "Platform", which is part of an ongoing exploration into mobile computational filmmaking. A single continuous take captured with a custom mobile application, it combines perspectives and human/digital presence in a geometric rendition of an urban "derive"
Freeka Tet - New York/Los Angeles
Freeka Tet is a highly multidisciplinary artist, using a variety of skills to develop commentary on our digital behaviors through a variety of media.
His new piece, “Uncanny Valley”, is a combination of mobile development, machine learning, web scraping, digital sound processing, 3d scanning and game engine development. It is a intense blend of the physical and digital through an unusual interactive system, inviting visitors to "scratch" a Pixel 2 phone to control a series of soundtracks composed by Freeka. The user interaction manipulates a surreal visual collage, living somewhere between AR videogame and collage. Freeka will soon be releasing a record that will be available on the Play and App stores and that can only be heard when a phone running the app spins on a turntable.