Pascal Dufaux at KSP – Part 1/2 – the reception

I got down to the Kitchener Studio Project on Wednesday for the opening reception for Pascal Dufaux’s piece The Cosmos In Which We Live, Chapter II.  Pascal (left) gave a great talk to the assembled crowd on the concepts and motivation behind the piece.

You should definitely get there to see it, weekdays 4-6pm at 44 Gaukel St in Kitchener, running through to March 28.  Pascal, being the awesome dude that he is, said he could also be swayed to open it up at other hours that are perhaps more conducive to those of us with day jobs.  You can reach him here.

This whole gig, shepherded by CAFKA, was supported by a grant and gear from Christie Digital as part of their collaborative Artist In Residence program.  Since this intersection of art and technology is right at the sweet spot for makebright, it was great to meet Charles Fraresso, Senior Manager for Research and Innovation at Christie (thank you, Tony Reinhart).

I’ve put up a lot of photos because this piece totally resonates with the maker/photographer in me and because I want there to be a lot more of these collaborations with a lot more companies here.  And, as always, I want to get your feet on the street so you can see this work IRL.  Trust me: looking at photos of this piece, you’re missing the whole delightfully interactive and thought-provoking nature of it.  *You* complete this piece.

This post, part 1/2, is the reception and talk.  The follow-up, part 2/2, will show an extensive pre-show shoot I did with Pascal on Monday.

Wandering around behind the scenes, I found the master computer running the whole thing and, wait a second, isn’t that…

yes, it’s our Agnes Niewiadomksi.  This console view of video feeds from the actual piece was so meta that my mind was blown, so I…

walked around the front to see people’s reactions.

Marcel (upper right) and Virtual Marcel (left wall) post-glitch/delay/mash-up.

Marcel and Nick.

Pascal talking with artist Laura De Decker.

Funny moment in Pascal’s artist talk when he noted that these installations typically run with consumer-grade projectors that are nowhere near as bright/sharp/[kickass] as this trio of wicked Christie projectors.  You might say that I’m a fan of the technology, given that Christie tech has powered two of my own installations in the past two years:

• Looking Up and In – a projection atop Kitchener City Hall on the sky gallery
• DISCONNECT – with Tony Reinhart on pervasive surveillance and loss of human connection

Uber-meta: the video delay in this piece allowed me to shoot one of the rotating cameras in the piece, then quickly spin around and shoot the projection of me shooting the piece.  Nearly opened a rift in the space-time continuum.

Recursive Selfie.

These visual echoes are wicked.

How many car batteries would it take to power this baby from the trunk of my car so we could do some guerrilla urban projecting on buildings?

More meta: learn about composition by watching Tony Reinhart (foreground) shoot

Pascal seemed like a conductor, directing the machines.

It is a great thing to hear an artist, passionate about his work, share the story.

Rapt.

All creatures large and small.

Tony’s on the job.  Expecting his View from the ‘Loo post soon for Communitech.

Tony talks to Pascal (left) and Charles Fraresso.

Mo’ meta: here’s Lydia Frey of Tofayo Photography.  She’s doing some work with CAFKA.

Tony busts out the voice recorder and it’s interview on the spot time.

Recap: get down to 44 Gaukel to see this piece.  And if you’re with a company, take note of Christie’s example and get involved with the arts.  I’m happy to connect you.

DW