Formants

Erin Gee
August 9 – 10, 2008
Regina Folk Festival
Victoria Park: Community Tables Area

Formants is a temporary installation of new media work that makes use of magnetic switches in order to activate .wav audio files embedded within a sculpture. An attached microcontroller is employed to interpret the flow of power in the form of electronic pulses conveyed by the opening or closing of switches. The switches, in turn, communicate viewer activated information to Pure Data software on a laptop computer. Sound emitted from the computer is divided between two stereo USB speakers, positioned inside each head to give us the final interactive mixed media work that uses classical operatic vocalizations to bring to life an ancient Sumerian myth.

Erin Gee was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and is an emerging artist who uses music, visual experience and interactivity to inspire personal and critical social dialogue. In addition to presenting at the Open Engagement: Art After Aesthetic Distance conference hosted by Jennifer Delos Reyes in 2007, her work has been shown at the Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax (2007), and Mysteria, Regina (2006). Gee is the recipient of a 2008 Saskatchewan Arts Board Premiers Centennial Scholarship in Visual Arts and a Production Funding Award from Soil Digital Media Suite at Neutral Ground towards the creation of the new work, Formants.

Erin Gee

Physical computing is a general concept artists embrace for how to implement technology into diverse projects. The various forms of physical computing take advantage of todays technologies but break out of the conventions of screen and keyboard interaction, replacing those mechanisms with a broader range of tools and opportunities for expression. While this kind of new media may seem unfamiliar, it builds upon everyday experiences with technology and expands what is currently conceived of as a technological experience. This is what is at the heart of new media as the creative use of technology and as something that goes far beyond the use of digital tools for making films and video.

Soil Digital Media Suite is a new media centre adjunct to Neutral Ground whose mandate is to provide access to production resources for artists practicing at the intersection of the arts, sciences and technology. Soil’s vision both anticipates and responds to the impact technologies are having on communications, politics, economics, and day to day life to be better able to effect positive social change.

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