Super Pool by Jen Lewin, photo by Duncan Rawlinson
Get Your Art On at Art & Algorithms in Titusville
Art & Algorithms, October 11-16, in Titusville, is in its 4th year. It’s a very different arts festival and continues to bring the community surprising hands-on experiences in digital art exhibits. Some people ask, “What’s an algorithm?” That’s easy—an algorithm is, in simple terms, a set of steps to make something happen, frequently from a computer, so the art in this festival is created or controlled using digital devices and algorithms.
The festival began in Titusville because this is the home of people who take technology and innovation to heart and have accomplished some of the greatest feats of mankind–the ongoing site of frequent and exciting space launches. The people of Titusville embrace exploration of all kinds, including welcoming new bike trails, like the one that runs from the West Coast of Florida to Playalinda Beach and another that will eventually stretch the entire length of the East Coast of the US.
Fitting the theme of hands-on exploration, this year’s festival features The Pool, by artist Jen Lewin. The work is approximately 60 ft. in diameter and is a series of concentric circles you step on to activate, which in turn interacts with all the other people who are stepping on one of the more than 100 circular pads to produce unique patterns in light and sound.
“When I was 18,” Jen Lewin tells us, “I was camping in Australia at this flat place where the tide comes in 14 kilometers. At night, when the tide was out it left pools of water for as far as you can see. When the moon came out, light reflected in these tide pools and it was beautiful. We would run around and play in them, just struck by that moment in time that was so magical. That’s how my process works; I see something really beautiful and I want to share that and it takes me years to figure out how I can make an art piece to somehow capture something I’ve seen that’s really beautiful in nature.”
The Pool will be under the tent along with the Virtual Reality Lab with demonstrations of Google Tilt Brush, the popular Augmented Reality Sandbox, and the iPad lab. Outside on the green is a huge LED screen for outdoor theater showings of award-winning short films.
Also on the green is Arboria, one of the crown jewels of the festival. Arboria, designed by Alan Parkinson (of Architects of Air), is an immersive wheelchair-accessible experience, 171 feet long, 104 feet wide — a huge inflatable art space with soundscape, an environment that could almost be another planet. The Arboria exhibit is co-sponsored by Parrish Healthcare, helping to make the Arboria experience accessible to our community is one more way Parrish Healthcare is serving to fulfill its mission — “Healing experiences for everyone, all the time.”
Founder, designer and artistic director of Arboria, Alan Parkinson of Architects of Air, first started experimenting with pneumatic sculptures in the 1980s and has since developed his own language of form in this plastic medium.
“What motivates me to design,” said Parkinson, “is the fact that I continue to be struck by the beauty of light and color found in the luminaria. These structures nurture an awareness of a pure phenomenon that gently cuts through everyday conditioned perceptions and awakens a sense of wonder in people.”
Art & Algorithms promotes enhancing student technology literacy, unlocking creative potential, and fostering learning engagement. School tours by students and teachers bring hundreds to meet and talk to artists, touch and influence the outcome of art exhibits, watch award-winning short films and experience the world of virtual reality.
“It takes many people to bring Art & Algorithms to the region,” says Ron Cummins, FPL, Art & Algorithms Festival co-chair, “Come out and help, be a volunteer — it’s a great experience.”
Learn more at ArtandAlgorithms.com and check out artandalgorithms.com/volunteers if you want to get involved.
Like Art & Algorithms on Facebook and share your thoughts with them on Twitter @artandal and use the hashtag #ArtON16.
