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 InterAccess seeks Participants for "Tactile Video" Workshops

      Artist David Rokeby to lead interactive
      video installation project

TORONTO, Canada - January 29, 1999 - InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre and the Art & Robotics Group will select artists to participate in the "Tactile Video" intensive workshop. Led by award-winning artist David Rokeby, the workshop utilizes the "Max" interactive programming environment and electronic sensor devices to control full-screen QuickTime video projections. Participants will produce sculptural installation works which engage the human body and create a sense of tactility and physical presence. A selection of the works produced will be exhibited as part of the Images Festival of Independent Film and Video in April, 1999.

The "Tactile Video" intensive workshop takes place over five consecutive weekends February 27 to March 28, 1999 (Saturday and Sunday, 11am-5pm) plus production activities on weekdays. Application deadline is Tuesday, February 9th.

      See below for application requirements. 

Contact: Project Coordinator/Curator - Jeff Mann mailto:jefman@utcc.utoronto.ca Web Site: http://www.interaccess.org/arg/tv

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Tactile Video

Ephemeral visions - 30 apparitions per second - trying to get in touch... can interactive video cross over from cyberspace into material reality? Spectres of light with animalistic awareness, ubiquitous presence, sensation, impression, embraceable tactility. Would you rather point and click, or dance and kiss?

The Tactile Video project investigates and expands artistic practice in the use of interactive, computer-controlled video and "live" processing techniques using readily available desktop video systems. It emphasizes innovative applications in immersive, performative, and installation environments with responsive human interface alternatives to the standard "point-and-click" computer screen.

The first phase of the project, now completed, presented a series of public seminars featuring Bill Buxton, Paul Garrin, Nancy Paterson, Don Ritter, David Rokeby, "Screen" (Eric Rosenzveig and Willy LeMaitre), Tom Sherman, and Nell Tenhaaf.

In the second phase of the project, InterAccess and the Art & Robotics Group will invite a number of artists to participate in a month-long production intensive workshop led by David Rokeby and assisted by Jeff Mann. Weekend workshops will focus on the use of the "Max" interactive programming environment to control playback of full-screen, full-motion video via QuickTime and a video projector. David Rokeby has created "a series of extensions to the 'Max' language to deal with the low level management of QuickTime, allowing the participants to focus on the more interesting questions of the nature of the relationship between video and the audience they would like to construct." Rokeby's "Very Nervous System" and Parallax's "BASIC Stamp" microcontroller will be employed to sense motion, distance, touch, sound, "live" objects, etc., in order to create a sensation of physical connection and tactile presence - the integration of video imagery with the physical environment and human body.

Participating artists will be encouraged to form production crews of two to six people. The electronic media production studio at InterAccess will be available for crews to work independently, on weekdays and evenings during March. A selection of the works is planned for exhibition at the InterAccess gallery during the Images Festival in April.

Application Procedure

Those wishing to be considered as participants should forward a current curriculum vitae and brief (500 words or less) statement of interest to:

InterAccess, attn: Jeff Mann Suite #444 401 Richmond Street West Toronto, ON Canada M5V 3A8

by Fax: (416) 599-7015 by e-mail: jefman@utcc.utoronto.ca

Application deadline is Tuesday, February 9th, 1999. Notification of acceptance will be on Thursday, February 11th.

All practicing artists may apply; selection will include a balance of those with experience levels in electronic media from beginning to advanced. However, participants must demonstrate a serious interest and be willing to commit a significant amount of time for five consecutive weekend-long workshops (Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 5pm), plus production activities on weekdays and/or evenings, and to complete a substantial interactive video installation or performance work by the end of the workshop.

Tuition Fee

The "Tactile Video" project is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, and by InterAccess. To preclude economic barriers to artists' participation, the normal tuition fee ($500 US / $750 CDN) will be waived for InterAccess members. InterAccess membership costs $50 CDN/year, and requires a brief interview. Please call InterAccess at (416) 599-7206 for more information about becoming a member.

However, since space is limited for this unique opportunity, a deposit of $200 CDN will be required. The deposit will be refunded upon successful completion of the workshop. Participants who miss more than two days of the workshops, or otherwise fail to participate, will forfeit the deposit.

Tactile Video Personnel and Sponsors

David Rokeby is an interactive sound- and video-installation artist based in Toronto, Canada. He has been creating interactive installations since 1982. His work has been exhibited in shows across Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan and Korea. He was awarded the first Petro-Canada Award for Media Arts in 1988 and the Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction for Interactive Art (Austria) in 1991. http://www.interlog.com/~drokeby

Jeff Mann is founder of Toronto's Art & Robotics Group collective, and producer/coordinator of its "SpaceProbe" and "Tactile Video" projects. A former faculty member of the Ontario College of Art's New Media program, his work in telecommunications art, video, sound, and electronic installation has been exhibited internationally. He is a long-standing board member of InterAccess, and is now employed at Charles Street Video in Toronto. http://www.interlog.com/~jefman

InterAccess is Canada's premiere Electronic Media Arts Centre devoted exclusively to the production and exhibition of electronic art. A non-profit, artist-run centre, it consists of a gallery space in downtown Toronto, and an adjoining electronic media production studio. It offers a full public programme of shows, artist talks, performances, workshops, production projects and other events, in addition to artists' access to electronics and multimedia tools. It is currently the home of the Art & Robotics Group artists' collective. Contact: Kathleen Pirrie Adams, Programming Director; Mark Jones, Administrative Director. http://www.interaccess.org

Tactile Video is presented by InterAccess, and the Art & Robotics Group.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $6.2 million in media arts throughout Canada. The Canada Council for the Arts, Since 1957 http://www.canadacouncil.ca Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 6,2 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les arts médiatiques a travers le Canada. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=