It's
a tiny leap from being a passive observer to being part of the art-making at
this year's spark! Mesa's Festival of Creativity. Festival-goers will
quickly go from observing to participating in these interactive projects that
blend art and technology.
Visit
the south lawn of Mesa Arts Center each day of spark! to see Wonder Dome. An
interactive performance platform created by Dan Fine takes traditional
storytelling and turns it into an explorative mixture of hand puppets, digital
puppets, live actors, movies, video games, with responsive visuals, lights and
sound. Within the immersive space of Leo the GEO-desic-Dome, audiences of all
ages can be a part of the story.
Then
stop by the Amyloid Project at the Wells Fargo Stage Area. For this, urbanSTEW
took inspiration from research done by ASU Physics Professor Dr. Sara Vaiana.
This research focuses on Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) which help us
better understand amyloid diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and
diabetes. To bring awareness and understanding, the group constructed a large
steel sculpture modeled after these proteins. The piece is an interactive
sculpture by day, and on Friday and Saturday night at spark! After Dark this
figure will turn into a multimedia performance including light projection,
sound and original dance.
spark! After Dark will continue to bend your pre-determined ideas of light, sound and how we can interact with technology. As you walk through the campus at Mesa Arts Center, an interactive projection will be displayed upon the theater windows. These projections create the image of a crowd of people observing something that is unknown to the bystander, you. These projections will then respond to you in a number of ways. It’s You, as the project is titled, is by Karolina Sobecka, and it explores public behavior and social actions.
For more interactive lights and sounds, the Alliance Stage
will be featuring DJ David Last with visuals by Glowing Pictures. Glowing
Pictures is a company pioneering in visual performance who have collaborated
with Kanye West, Paul Oakenfold and Outkast in their concert performances. A
customized experience is created by an immersive, interactive, and responsive
atmosphere full of lights. Three installations will take place to light up Mesa
Arts Center; Dance Lighthouse, Geo Dome Projections and Digital Light Painting.
Fractured Future is an interactive VJ experience at spark!
After Dark by Moheeb Zara. As you step into a console, you pilot a digital ship
and create a visceral soundscape. Digital imagery and moving visuals that you
control are viewed on a projection map.
All of these installations, along with many others at spark!
will envelope you in a new, visually stunning world where digital art and
culture come to life. Don’t miss all of the excitement and much more!
