NM 11th Annual Juried Student Exhibition

Last Friday (April 6), I stopped by Highsmith Gallery to enjoy the reception for the opening of the New Media department's 10th Annual Juried Student Exhibition.   I went there last year and had such a great time that I could hardly wait to go back this year.  Last year, the show was hosted by the Multimedia Arts and Sciences department, which has since changed its name to the New Media department and upgraded its website.  Just like last year, this year there were a lot of really interesting and interactive pieces.  I enjoyed playing around with this piece, called "intra," which allows users to connect to each other as part of a sort of electric circuit.  When we stood barefoot on the metal plates, we powered various electronics around the gallery.

Artists: David Allen, Kevin Boggs, Drew Glover, and Hannah Trussler.  "While most digital  media connects people across distances, intra creates an immersive environment that promotes direct interaction.  Each person stands barefoot on a metal plate and adjusts the environment by touching adjacent smaller pads.  When all stations are occupied, the users become part of the same circuit with a single current connecting them all."

I also really enjoyed this piece, which reacted to the movements my fingers made across a piece of paper, and displayed them on a computer screen.  I have no idea how this piece worked, but I had a lot of fun with it!

Last year, my friend designed the poster for the show and had three pieces featured. This year, he had more work on display. His piece, called "Soundstage" allows one to experience simultaneously any number of sound clips submitted from other users from anywhere in the world.  He told me that we hear many things, but only choose to focus on a few sounds (two or three), and the rest become some kind of white noise. "Soundstage" mimics this phenomenon.  Cool, right?  He also had an interactive game called "Snowflakes" but I didn't get a picture.

Here are more pictures from the rest of the show.  The exhibit closes today.  I hope you had a chance to experience the creativity of our students in the New Media department over the past week!