蓝莓视频

This past September, the City of 蓝莓视频 lit up with the annual , which explores the interplay of light, art and technology.

Hosted by the team (Create 蓝莓视频), this event invites tech giants, community leaders, local and international artists to push the boundaries of human curiosity. It featured more than 30 installations, ranging from performances to new media, including Pixellation, which featured artwork from CS/FINE 383: Computational Digital Art Studio, a third-year interdisciplinary course at 蓝莓视频.

Dr. Daniel Vogel, a computer science professor who taught the course this past winter, explains that it is simultaneously a fine arts studio art course and a technical computer science course.

鈥淔or example, I give a seminar on artists and theories related to generative art in one class, then in the next class I run a hands-on coding workshop showing how to create generative artwork,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot only do students produce creative works that stand on their own as art, but they get experience using applied computer science techniques.鈥�

The course culminates into an interactive art exhibit, with the latest version taking place in early April.

Three Computer Science students, Georgia Berg, Hannah Choi, and Rayhan Moidu (BCS 鈥�24) completed the course and exhibited their work, which was then showcased during Lumen as part of the Department of Fine Arts鈥� Student Art Innovation Lab (S.A.I. L). Contained within a 1975 Airstream trailer, S.A.I.L. provides free community outreach programs while spotlighting 蓝莓视频 art.

鈥淭his year marked the seventh year that S.A.I.L. has partnered with the City of 蓝莓视频 and Lumen, but it's the first time we've featured work from the Computational Digital Art Studio course,鈥� says Fine Arts professor Dr. Tara Cooper and S.A.I.L.鈥檚 director. 鈥淲hen I attended the April鈥檚 CS/FINE 383 exhibit, I immediately considered showcasing the students鈥� work at Lumen. Their use of light, projection, interactivity and scale that inhabits both architecture and the body was strong 鈥� not only from a technical standpoint, but also conceptually and experientially. It was the perfect fit for Lumen.鈥�

The students鈥� vibrant yet serene pieces attracted more than 3,000 attendees, making it the most-attended event in S.A.I.L.鈥檚 history.

For example, Choi created , where attendees were able to design an abstract artwork that dynamically changes and evolves. However, it slowly disappears, leaving them with a black screen. 听

To create this effect, Choi听developed a distributed system that tracks and converts real-time touch patterns on a mouse into a generative 3D model, which is projected on a screen in front of the attendee.

Attendees are invited to draw something on a laptop. They can see the design take shape, but it will slowly disappear into a black screen.

鈥淚n a world where people are so focused on the destination, we often miss the joy of the journey. This mindset prevents us from embracing the unfamiliar, which truly ignites the flames of creativity,鈥� Choi says. She hopes Goodbye teaches people to appreciate the process, by forcing them to bid farewell to their drawings.

Recent computer science alum Moidu, who designed Fractal Dreams using computer simulation, generative agents and real-time animation, showed an ever-looping scene of a young girl standing before a tree, as she stares at a lone observer. Notably, the piece is soundless and static, where the only moving elements are the protagonist鈥檚 hair and the leaves. 鈥淭his work reflects the fractal relationship between our world and a higher dimensional space. I wanted the audience to feel enticed, engrossed and in wonder at the peculiar realm that unfolds before them,鈥� Moidu says.

This eerie piece explores the fractal relationship between our world and a higher-dimensional space.

Berg, who developed Postmodern Baptism using generative agents and deep learning models, explains that the piece invites attendees to be cleansed by the 鈥減eople鈥檚 wash.鈥澨� The video opens with spinning neon bristles that are slowly approaching the audience, then bright and black hues drip down the screen with bubbles emerging afterwards. It ends with bright sunlight and the words 鈥淕o in Peace,鈥� symbolizing the viewer is now 鈥榖lessed.鈥�

鈥�Postmodern Baptism is my answer to what a secularized baptism ritual might be,鈥� Berg says. She created Postmodern Baptism for one of the course鈥檚 assignments, not the exhibit. 鈥淐ar washes are a uniform experience across the continent, which makes it the perfect metaphor for a religious ritual.鈥�

During the People Wash, the viewers are cleansed with neon coloured brushes (left). The next scene opens with bright and dark colours dripping down the screen (right).

鈥淏eing able to show my work at this festival was great because it was a full circle moment,鈥� she adds. 鈥淎fter leaving last year鈥檚 festival, I wanted to get involved, but I didn鈥檛 have the faintest idea of where I could start. I had no visual art experience or technical skills. When I took CS/Fine 383, I realized I had these skills from coding. I solved various interesting problems, ones that I don鈥檛 usually get to work with in class.鈥�

Courses like this shows 蓝莓视频鈥檚 unique approach to teaching, where the University blends different fields to equip students with new and rich skills. Students at the University of 蓝莓视频 excel because of this unique environment that integrates experiential education with disciplinary and interdisciplinary research.