Emergence 2007

Doodler is an online social network based on collaborative drawing and art. It is designed to facilitate and encourage appropriation of not only content, but interface as well. It is the manifestation of Hypersurrealism, providing an infinite space for games like Exquisite Corpse. The Surrealists created imagery by pitting two peoples' creative powers against each other in a twisting together of their subconsciouses like different colored strands in a rope. Once the twisting was completed, the resulting image was one that no one planned but everyone invented in separate, yet connected, contexts. Doodler is a social space that realizes and connects these contexts with a variety of systems and interface structures.

An interactive installation based on medieval illuminated manuscripts that explores the allusions of the artist's dream narratives and invites participats to draw their own associations to the finding of meaning in their own dreams.

The public is invited to observe and/or participate in live Internet music improvisations with Synthia and various random players from around the globe who are simultaneously logged on to the same NINJAM online music collaboration server. Also, view movies from Synthia’s musical telepresence research sessions.

The Gamelan Plesetan project joins musicians together in live, non-idiomatic improvisational electro-acoustic gamelan multimedia performance with gamelan controlled visual projections using the Gamelan Lumina interface, developed by Peter Elsea and Darryl Ferrucci. This incarnation of the project is an installation displaying media and music created during past performances, and showcases an opening night live performance.

"Softly Spoken," a participatory ritual facilitated in July 2006 and again for DANM in May 2007, is an expression of the magic in the mundane and a summoning of the latent connection and compassion between strangers. A bit of the ritual will be facilitated by leaf on June 8th, at 7:30pm.

“Sticky Light,” programmed for "Softly Spoken" by Phoenix Toews, selectively projects video onto specific color values, allowing the artist to sculpt with light. You will be able to explore this new medium for the duration of the exhibit.

Alan Tollefson will display the work he has made in association with his graduate thesis entitled Dedokoro, a dance theater performance based on the haiku of Japanese American internees during WWII. He will display video documentation of the performance, props, set pieces ,and projections of the performance media based photographs he has taken between 2005 and 2006 at Heart Mountain, Tule Lake, Rhower and Jerome, as well as display the website he constructed to develop the research into a script.

Cross Cultural emerges from Satadru Banduri’s continuing work with developing dialogs around gender and sensuality, creating visual statements of India’s and the United States’ cultural differences in ethnic and gender issues. He expresses these through an installation with video exploring sensuality, desire, pleasure, celebration, love, and romantic moments – all part of the sacred and the profane in both cultural frameworks.

The Museum of Art & History is a non-profit educational institution that promotes a greater understanding of contemporary art and the history of Santa Cruz county, through its exhibitions, collections, and programs, for the benefit of residents and visitors to Santa Cruz County.