Please Touch: An Interactive Exhibition

The Leonardo Galleryfocuses on the visual presentation of new artwmk, highlighting artists who utilize emergingmedia involvingtechnology and developingsciences in theircreations. Participating artists are invited by a guest curatortosubmit one tofour still imagesof theirwork, accompanied by a caption thatprovides background infmation. This micrmxhibition space is intended to crossgeographical and stylisticboundaries in order toprovide exposure to a broad range o f artists at work today . Through collaborationwith a series of guest curators, theLeonardo Gallery aims to o f f e r a close look at science- and technology-influencedcontemporary art@om diversepoints of vim. The editors of Leonardo would like to thank Beverly &set; president of YLEM-ArtistsUsingScience and Technology,for her assistancein assembling this inaugural editionof theLeonardo Gallmy. PLEASETOUCH:AN INTERACTIVEEXHIBITION The four artists featured here were among the 11 who participated in the interactive sculpture and video exhibition “Please Touch,” held at the Bedford Gallery (Regional Center for the Arts)in Walnut Creek, California, from 16 November 1993 to 9January 1994.In this exhibition, art is experience-an experience made complete by the viewer’s interaction. The familiar museum label “Do Not Touch” is replaced by an invitation to become involved. Marjorie Franklin involvesus in how computers have changed her perceptions. In Come Human, Spin inMy Web!, BeverlyReiser and Hans Reiser use sound, video and computer graphics to create a program about chaos and order-real choices in a virtual world. Can the clock be turned back? For a few brief moments, a real action is made surreal as it is repeated forwards, backwards and forwards in Ed Tannenbaum’s Do-Undo. In its own alcove, TheFlock, by Kenneth Rinaldo and Mark Grossman, performs a cybernetic symphony,its three independent bio-technic systems imitating flocking behavior as they communicate with each other and react to sound and movement created by the viewers. All art is a collaboration between artist and materials. Ideally, viewers become a third component in the process when they activelybring their own perceptions to bear in viewing artwork. In this exhibition, hands-on participation can be seen as a metaphor for the ongoing process of active looking. MARTI KLINKNER Curator Bedford Gallery (Regicmal Centerforthe Arts) 1601 CivicDrive Walnut Creek, CA 94596 U.S.A. 01994 ISAS1 LEONARDO,Vol. 27, No.1, pp. 19-22,1994 19 Marjorie Franklin, two stills from digitized video sequences shown on computer monitor, from M i s s Violate and Her Boundaries,computer sculpture, overall dimensions 75 x 36 x 34 in, 1992. The artist is interested in the creation of computer/human “bodies” and in how computer use changes our perceptions. This work showsa continually shifting world with blurred boundaries between technology and women and other life forms. Using genetic growth algorithms to select images and digitized video segment overlays, it posits an expanded definition of the feminine where use and mastery of high-tech tools enhance a woman’s sense of her femininity and power. An Amiga 3000 computer and authoring software were used. Marjorie Franklin, P.O. Box 1638, El Cerrito, CA94530, U.S.A. Beverly Reiser and Hans Reiser, Come,Human,spinin M y W e b ! , interactiveinstallationusingsound, video and computer graphics, 1993. Thiswork createsa metaphoricalreality that begins with an artificialintelligence persona inviting the participantto visit the ”web.” Ifthe participant accepts the invitation, he or she is then given a choice between entering the Feral Forest (theworld of chaos)or the Cerebral Cathedral (a world of lawful constructs). The Feral Forest exploresissues involving Mother Nature: does she embody balance and simplicity or turbulence and complexity?The Cerebral Cathedralunleashesa barrage of worn-out paradigmsor useless paradoxes, thus compelling the participant to choose between throwing them out in an effort to start anew or clinging to them, as a way of finding comfort and reassurance.The participant ultimately arrives at one of four possible endings,having altered his or her own “data structure”or the environment . The participant’slive image is merged with the computer image on the screen throughout the interactivesession. An Amiga 2000 computer,video digitizer, video camera, and authoring and paint software were used. BeverlyReiser and H a n sReiser, 6979 Exeter Drive, Oakland, CA94611, U . S . A . Kenneth E. Rinaldo and Mark S. Grossman, TheHod,3 robotic...