Here’s a pic of some of my MA students (Colleen Alborough, Sue Van Zyl and Nick Nesbitt, respectively) from the Wits Digital Media MA. Today, we had a great crit session (the first of many!) leading up to their final exhibition (some time in December or January). I actually just had the final one-on-one with Elmi Dixon; it seems we’ll have some great projects ranging in input from video and motion, to pin wheels and open doors, and output from multitrack sound to water waves and lights with prisms. I’m very excited about how the students are beginning to use interaction as their concept base, rather than as just part of their core methodology. Emotion, security, anxiety, etc, can now be performed in the gallery space by viewers, and that is what they are striving to achieve.
And speaking of alternative forms of input, I had a great chat with Ralph Borland this morning – the owner of physicalcomputing.org, future home of a resource and highlight site that focuses on p-comp projects and innovators in the third world. Shut off your pop-up blocker and go here if you want to know more about Ralph’s work. Recently, he’s been working on BS2 tutorials down in Cape Town, and we’re hoping to swap notes and projects when I travel there for the Kebbles in October. He’ll also have two artworks in the competition, as well as be on the set-up team; I’m looking forward to spending some time with him and seeing what he’s up to!
I’m hoping Ralph’ll also toss me some text for the networked_performance blog, as his work is fine and his theory is on point. Him’s got good words…. Speaking of, where are all the Southern Africans who want to be involved? Please, contact me if you have a project, some feedback, or a rant you’d like me to post from you on that site!
