Quayola and Memo Akten create interactive animation and installation
Quayola (aka 'dQ') and Memo Akten through digital production outfit Nexus Interactive Arts, have created ‘Forms’, a multiscreen digital artwork commissioned by the National Media Museum for the exhibition In the Blink of an Eye: Media and Movement, which is part of the Cultural Olympiad programme. This generative animation and interactive installation will display at the Museum from 9 March – 2 September.
‘Forms’ is a highlight of the exhibition, which explores themes surrounding the capture and synthesis of movement. Quayola and Memo responded to this and the images and artefacts from the museum’s National Collections that feature within the exhibition. This includes the work of Dr Harold E. Edgerton, Roger Fenton, Tim Macmillan, Etienne-Jules Marey and Eadweard Muybridge.
A large projection of the animation will be displayed within the space, with a smaller split screen mounted on a plinth just in front to show not only the original footage of athletes on which each animation is based, but also the individual layers of that animation, which can be digitally peeled back by the viewer.
The animation analyses and abstracts human movement at the extremes of possibility. Rather than directly visualise the path of the body and the movement, it explores the relationships between the human body, its movements and the trajectories it defines through time and space.
CG models based on clips of Commonwealth athletes were matchmoved in 3D Studio Max and processed through a custom generative software to retrieve motion data and create the related abstract geometric visualisations.
Quayola and Memo said; ‘Sport is one of the main forms of entertainment in today’s society. We are interested in de-contextualising the roles of the athletes and exclusively focus on the mechanics of their movement.’
Curator of In the Blink of an Eye, Colin Harding, said: “Quayola and Memo have created a strikingly original interactive artwork which offers a contemporary and rather beautiful response to both the theme of movement and the items from the National Collections we are displaying.”
Excerpt - http://bit.ly/w5xaDT
Interview - http://bit.ly/wNp2N6
Installation video - http://bit.ly/x70pbn
Nexus Interactive Arts - http://bit.ly/ruAK49
Forms
Quayola and Memo Akten - Artists
Production Company - Nexus Interactive Arts
Beccy McCray - Creative Producer
Jo Bierton - Production Manager
Matthias Kispert - Sound design
Maxime Causeret - Houdini Developer
Raffael F J Ziegler (AKA Moco) - 3D Animator
Katie Parnell - 3D Tracker
Eoin Coughlan - 3D Tracker
Mark Davies - 3D Tracking Supervisor
With thanks to BBC Motion Gallery and Commonwealth Games Federation
In the Blink of an Eye is the National Media Museum’s contribution to imove, Legacy Trust UK’s cultural programme for Yorkshire, and part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. With this programme Legacy Trust UK is creating a lasting cultural legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK.
The National Media Museum
In the Blink of an Eye: Media and Movement runs from 9 March to 2 September 2012.
The National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, opened as the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford in 1983 with the remit to explore the art and science behind images and image-making, and has since become one of the most visited UK museums outside London.
With the aim to be the best museum in the world for inspiring people to learn about, engage with and create media, it draws from more than 3.5 million objects in its National Photography, Television, Cinematography and New Media Collections to create special exhibitions, interactive galleries and activities for families and adults.
It also organises three major film festivals each year – Bradford International Film Festival, Bradford Animation Festival and Fantastic Films Weekend, and is home to Europe’s first IMAX cinema screen.
Entry to the Museum is free. www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
About imove
Inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, imove explores and celebrates human movement right up to the end of the Paralympic Games in September 2012.
About the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people.
The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad will be the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK, from Midsummers Day on 21 June and running until the final day of the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012.The London 2012 Festival will celebrate the huge range, quality and accessibility of the UK’s world-class culture including dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, fashion, film and digital innovation, giving the opportunity for people across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Principal funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.
For more details on the programme and to sign up for information visit www.london2012.com/festival
