Parsons Design and Technology Exhibition

Design and Technology 2005 Thesis Exhibition
Parsons School of Design
Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, 66 Fifth Avenue, and Gallery at 2 West 13th Street
May 26 - June 9, 2005*
Mon-Fri 9-9, Sat-Sun 9-6
*Galleries closed Memorial Day Weekend

From a Voodoo game installation to subversive techno-fashions, a range of works exploring the intersection of art, technology and design will be on view at Parsons School of Design, a division of New School University, as part of its annual Design and Technology Thesis Exhibition, taking place May 26 - June 9, 2005. The exhibition features more than 100 works by graduating students of Parsons MFA and BFA Design and Technology program, and spans a range of media, from experimental game design to animation, new media, digital video and computer art, interactive visual and sound installations, and wearable technologies.

“At Parsons, design is a mechanism for producing culture, for developing communities, shaping knowledge, and triggering social consciousness," said Parsons Design and Technology Chair Colleen Macklin. "From the start of their studies, DT students are challenged to respond to the implications of emerging technology; these explorations are fully realized in their thesis projects.”

Among the featured thesis projects are MFA student Evan Roth’s Graffiti Analysis, which makes visible the unseen movements of graffiti artists in the creation of a tag. Motion tracking sensors and computer vision technology record and analyze these movements to produce digital projections that appear at night on surfaces of buildings. For the project, Roth captures on video graffiti artists at work in his studio then processes the video on a computer, which creates animations that Roth projects onto building facades. Roth spontaneously projects these animations in various spots throughout the city for viewers to randomly encounter as they would graffiti art; however, during the exhibition visitors will be able to manipulate their own projections on the walls of the gallery. For sightings in the city, announcements of upcoming displays can be found by visiting his web blog at http://blog.ni9e.com.

MFA student Lina Fenequito’s Swap-o-Matic is a vending machine that enables people to swap used goods as a means of promoting recycling. The machine is operated by a web interface that provides access to the goods inside, and also enables people to view its contents remotely (visit www.swap-o-matic.com). During its testing phase contents have ranged from packs of cigarettes and mixed cds to authentic Chinese gas masks. Currently Fenequito is working with mechanical engineering students Rishi Rane and Harsh Poshtiwala of Brooklyn Polytechnic University on a new version of the machine, which is expected to debut this summer at the Bluestocking Cafe in New York’s Lower East Side.

BFA student Donnie Bugden’s Associate Assistant of Departmental Operations, a game-engine-based simulated office environment that enables users to play out work-related scenarios on “everyman” co-worker Steve, whose actions are controlled by means of a Voodoo doll. Depending on where the doll is poked, different animations are activated: for example, when jabbed in the leg, Steve grabs the hurt leg and hops up and down. Following the Parsons exhibition, the project will be on view in the International New Media Arts Exhibition and Symposium taking place in Beijing this June.

BFA Student Theo Watson will unveil Audio Space, a sound installation where visitors are taken through an augmented aural reality. Donning a headset equipped with earphones and a microphone, visitors record messages that are then “placed” in the spot where it was recorded. Through the earphones, these messages are played along with messages recorded by previous visitors. Each message sounds as if it is coming from the spot where it was recorded. The resulting effect is the sensation of walking through a space inhabited by ghosts, with each visitor leaving an aural mark for others to uncover.

BFA Student Matthew Brant has created “subversive wearable technologies” - a belt buckle and a pair of pants that “interrupt” technology. The belt buckle turns off TVs via an embedded point-and-shoot device, while the pair of pants creates white noise that drowns out the sounds of the city via speakers implanted into the pockets and sensors implanted into the legs that respond to movement and then manipulate the frequency on a standard fm radio.

About Parsons Design and Technology
Parsons Design and Technology MFA and BFA programs explore the relationship between digital technology and the creative process. Students investigate the expanding influence of design within society, the growing role of technology within design, and the resulting aesthetic and intellectual challenges. The program provides interdisciplinary studies in motion graphics, interactive design, game design, animation, and physical computing, actively engaging students in real-world design projects that address social change. In their final years, both MFA and BFA students engage in a thesis process, the culmination of their studies and a mechanism for exploring personal design philosophies.

For more information visit http://dt.parsons.edu.

Located in the heart of New York City, Parsons School of Design, a division of New School University, is one of the largest degree-granting colleges of art and design in the nation, with more than 3,000 students in degree programs, and 2,500 non-degree students from all 50 states and approximately 60 countries. The School’s dean is Paul Goldberger, the Pulitzer-prize winning architecture and design critic and writer. Parsons has been a forerunner in the field of art and design since its founding in 1896 as the Chase School, named after American impressionist painter William Merrit Chase. By locating visual beauty in the ordinary things of middle-class American life, Parsons virtually invented the modern concept of design in America. Internationalism has always been an essential ingredient of Parsons' success. In 1920, Parsons was the first art and design school in America to found a campus abroad. Today, Parsons has affiliate schools in Paris; Kanazawa, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic. Parsons’ rigorous programs and distinguished faculty embrace curricular innovation, pioneer new uses of technology, and instill in students a global perspective in design. For more information, visit www.parsons.edu.

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