Articles by Shawn Van Every

We, humans, have been fascinated by beautiful light for centuries. How can we transform light into Art and Technology? Are we able to discover and express ourselves through the process of making? 

“Projection Mapping 101” is a unique hands-on class building skills to create a projection mapping project and learn the evolution of Light Art and Technology. 

The students will identify their concepts and audience engagement through project exercises: Origami Mapping, Graffiti Mapping, International Projection Mapping Contest, etc. We will discuss a conceptual process, creating a prototype to complete their project. The goal is to develop students’ unique voices through this artistic process. They are encouraged to expand a larger project and incorporate new techniques they learn from other classes.

Over the past 18 months, we have seen many aspects of our lives thrust online.  Increasingly, we are working, learning, socializing with family and friends, attending live performances and more through 2D grids of video feeds on platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet. These communication tools have become essential for remote communities to connect, yet fail to replicate many of the most engaging, messy and human aspects of our in-person experience. What happens when we break out of this grid and explore new forms of real-time social interactions online using webcam video and audio?  

Some recent explorations in this realm (including gather.town, topia.io and ITP/IMA’s own YORB.itp.io) have shown the promise of spatial metaphors in creating engaging real-time social interactions online. In this course, students will create their own series of experimental social spaces that explore these questions: how does the shape and nature of our environment affect the way we communicate?  What unique forms of real-time expression and sharing might be possible online (and only online)? How might we design experiences for the unique social dynamics we want to support?

Students will be exposed to principles of spatial design as well as a series of open source Javascript tools for arranging live webcam video and audio in the browser.  They will use p5.js and p5LiveMedia to create a series of playful and experimental video chat applications in 2D and 3D environments.

Digital Bodies is an intermediate 3D imaging studio course that examines and explores the current technological applications and conceptual implications of post-photographic digital human simulations. We will regularly study the work that deals with digital bodies by contemporary artists and photographers such as LaTurbo Avedon, Chen Man, Quentin Deronzier, Hyphen-lab, Hayoun Kwon, and Gregory Bennett, and many digital art platforms in various categories, such as artificial human imaging, digital fashion models, and deepfake. We will be discussing the various theories relating to the idea of cyborgs and post-human conditions. Students will be learning 3D imaging skills for building, scanning, appropriating, and customizing prefabricated body models from multiple resources, exploring their movements that both imitate and go beyond the limits of reality and expanding conceptual themes. Besides the technical exercises, students are encouraged to create semester-long self-directed research and a final project using the imaging technology they’ve learned. Artist visits, field trips, and exhibition visits will also be arranged online or according to the public health safety situation. The exhibition of the student’s final projects will be arranged at the end of the semester. *The class is suitable for students with basic skills of 3D imaging in Maya.

We, humans, have been fascinated by beautiful light for centuries. How can we transform light into Art and Technology? Are we able to discover and express ourselves through the process of making? 

“Projection Mapping 101” is a unique hands-on class building skills to create a projection mapping project and learn the evolution of Light Art and Technology. 

The students will identify their concepts and audience engagement through project exercises: Origami Mapping, Graffiti Mapping, International Projection Mapping Contest, etc. We will discuss a conceptual process, creating a prototype to complete their project. The goal is to develop students’ unique voices through this artistic process. They are encouraged to expand a larger project and incorporate new techniques they learn from other classes.

Our day-to-day lives don’t give us many opportunities to reflect and listen. But against the digital deluge, radio & podcasting have emerged as storytelling mediums that capture our imaginations and force us to pay attention to our world in ways we otherwise wouldn’t.

This course provides an exploration into the world of podcasting and audio narratives. We’ll explore the storytelling craft through sound and expand audio traditions by creating our own series of stories and soundscapes. We’ll dive into journalistic and longform narratives to learn from them and offer critical approaches to build our own storytelling traditions. Students will work on becoming thoughtful storytellers by interviewing, recording, script-writing, editing, and soundscaping audio stories that relay the experiences of the people and perspectives around us.

Along the way, students will find their own voices, offering their unique takes on the world strictly through sound.