Special Treatment Exhibition

CHICAGO, Illinois - The Applied Interactives (AI) collaborative, in partnership with (art)n, will premiere a poignant and challenging new work entitled "Special Treatment", January 7-8, 2005.

"Special Treatment" is an immersive and interactive Virtual Reality installation examining the strength and persistence of memory. A chilling ride by train car deposits viewers in a sparsely populated camp pieced together from plans, photographs and other artifacts from Auschwitz II/Birkenau, Poland.

As the visitors explore the camp and architectural structures, conversations and other pieces of the past fade in and out of perception - at times almost tangible, at other times mere ghosts. These structures and stories are not intended to be strictly historical or documentary. Each element is the foundation for the folding together of past and present; where the sounds and images of old memories blend with memories created by each new visitor.

To provide each viewer with a truly immersive experience, "Special Treatment" is shown on AI's VR Portal. The VR Portal is a high-quality passive-stereo wall which uses the technology of the C-Wall (configurable wall) developed at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago and spatialized audio to immerse the viewer both visually and aurally.

Contact:
Geoffrey A. Baum
Applied Interactives
(773) 489-1147
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.appliedinteractives.com/stp/

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Location and time: Applied Interactives Gallery, 6th floor of the G2
Building at 847 W. Jackson Boulevard. The show is open to the public between 6-10pm January 7, and by appointment between 12-5pm January 8. Appointment requests may be submitted via e-mail.

Applied Interactives is an artist-based 501©(3) non-profit organization founded in Chicago in 2001. Its primary mission is to propagate virtual reality technologies and art into the exhibition spaces of galleries and contemporary art museums as well as into the hands of individual artists. AI is composed of students, faculty, and alumni of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Columbia College Chicago and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

(art)n was formed by Ellen Sandor in 1983 with her peers from the SAIC. They created immersive, sculptural mixed-media installations that inspired the invention of Virtual Photography (PHSColograms). (art)n's works are in numerous galleries, museums and private collections throughout the world.

University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Laboratory
(EVL) is an interdisciplinary laboratory offering graduate degrees in
computer science and electronic art. EVL specializes in the development of collaborative visualization software over high-speed networks, and in the development of viable, scalable, deployable stereo displays.