https://stewstew.cargo.site stewstew.org Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:37:47 +0000 https://stewstew.cargo.site en https://stewstew.cargo.site/Front-page Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:20:02 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/Front-page <img width="400" height="600" width_o="400" height_o="600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/78d96e47294715cf20d3db68635ab6b755d50f03c6489c34dd48927ebb77ba7b/Column1.gif" data-mid="183014938" border="0" data-rotation="15" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/400/i/78d96e47294715cf20d3db68635ab6b755d50f03c6489c34dd48927ebb77ba7b/Column1.gif" /> <img width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f11e672306c88cf74de6cf051536a2b22c07e947321c1effedcc944474acf5c8/Floater1small.gif" data-mid="183158061" border="0" data-scale="74" data-rotation="-17.5" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/600/i/f11e672306c88cf74de6cf051536a2b22c07e947321c1effedcc944474acf5c8/Floater1small.gif" /> https://stewstew.cargo.site/About Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:20:03 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/About Stewart Skylar Copeland is a transdisciplinary artist with a passion for emergent media, new narrative genres, and artistic research. He is a professor in Experimental Art &amp; Technology at the University of New Mexico and the director of UNM's ARTSLab, an award-winning interdisciplinary center for emerging media with an emphasis on immersive and interactive technology. Stewart is also the co-creator of VIS-A-THON and received his MFA in Digital + Media at RISD. <img width="3193" height="1946" width_o="3193" height_o="1946" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e58984f8899147702d0347193378231041f8811968d1ef6e08dc743e4806c368/StewartSkylarCopeland.jpg" data-mid="217788908" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e58984f8899147702d0347193378231041f8811968d1ef6e08dc743e4806c368/StewartSkylarCopeland.jpg" /> https://stewstew.cargo.site/Grey-Zone Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:37:47 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/Grey-Zone <img width="1920" height="495" width_o="1920" height_o="495" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/20d6dbf2cf24a6c3f22ae8f73ac2b24a5cae25256aba8b5bc8afdf9ec6ceda4f/webRect.png" data-mid="250644537" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/20d6dbf2cf24a6c3f22ae8f73ac2b24a5cae25256aba8b5bc8afdf9ec6ceda4f/webRect.png" /> Grey Zone is a one-hour multimedia dance performance exploring topics as wide-ranging as camping aesthetics, baseball ineffectuality, haunted media, and AI brain rot. Created by Stewart Skylar Copeland in collaboration with Amanda Ellis Hamp and Bobcat Ranf, the piece folds live dance into custom media systems until reality begins to unravel. Grey Zone premieres in Albuquerque, New Mexico at SISTER on October 2, 2026. One night with two shows at 6pm &amp; 8pm. Purchase tickets at the link below: &nbsp;!&nbsp;PURCHASE TICKETS HERE ! Grey Zone Trailer (2026) https://stewstew.cargo.site/Offer-Me-Solutions-Offer-Me-Alternatives-and-I-Decline Sun, 12 Jul 2026 23:37:41 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/Offer-Me-Solutions-Offer-Me-Alternatives-and-I-Decline <img width="6898" height="3226" width_o="6898" height_o="3226" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ce3c4291afdb0fc4eae854e597f09d965892fd34ff24b9b127501d33cc927d9f/banner_bandh.jpg" data-mid="250354730" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ce3c4291afdb0fc4eae854e597f09d965892fd34ff24b9b127501d33cc927d9f/banner_bandh.jpg" /> Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline (2025) Photo: Thais Coy Offer Me Solutions, Offer Me Alternatives, and I Decline is an 11-minute multimedia dance performance created through a collaboration between Amanda Ellis Hamp, Bobcat Ranf, and Stewart Skylar Copeland. Combining movement, projection, live media, and experimental technology, the work explores haunting, uncertainty, and connection within a destabilized world. The piece premiered as part of the New Mexico Dance Hackathon performance i/o on August 2, 2025, at ARTSLab at the University of New Mexico. <img width="8192" height="5464" width_o="8192" height_o="5464" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/92dfbeb5c72214fce72db586153b92758564b974ea220065e8b087af7f3e7adb/_V7A9373.jpg" data-mid="250354721" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/92dfbeb5c72214fce72db586153b92758564b974ea220065e8b087af7f3e7adb/_V7A9373.jpg" /> Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline (2025) Photo: Thais Coy Offer Me Solutions, Offer Me Alternatives, and I Decline opens on a completely dark stage. There’s a scrim at the front, a large projection screen at the back, and a tent onstage. That’s it. No visible light. Bobcat is lying in the middle of the stage, moving slowly, but Bobcat is barely visible because the space is pitch black. The sound of crickets fills the room. I’m positioned to the left of the stage with a computer, controlling the media and the live processing. Projected onto the scrim is a shimmering white point cloud, generated in real time by two Orbbec Femto Mega LiDAR cameras aligned to create a single 3D model of the stage. I navigate a virtual camera through that model, so what appears on the scrim is this almost holographic, shifting point-cloud view of the space. Hamp enters into this darkness. The point-cloud camera drifts to hover behind Hamp’s shoulder, like a ghost following them. Hamp turns on their headlamp and suddenly Bobcat is illuminated on the floor. After a few seconds, Hamp switches the lamp off, moves to another location, and repeats this action. Hamp does this in four different spots, punctuating the darkness with brief, localized bursts of light. Then Hamp leaves the headlamp on and begins to walk slowly around Bobcat, using the beam as a handheld spotlight to trace the contours of Bobcat’s body. We call this section “the tracing.” Hamp illuminates Bobcat’s limbs, edges, and angles, almost drawing Bobcat into existence with light. At a certain point, Bobcat turns on their own headlamp, looks up, and catches Hamp in the beam as Hamp stands in front of the scrim. A song kicks in, and the point-cloud projection fades out, leaving the two of them dancing together in near-complete darkness, their headlamps the main visible elements cutting through the space. <img width="7327" height="4887" width_o="7327" height_o="4887" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a9cb9936b76b52f7df999c916a5a25f7a4886f1042e4dc75f7d59210cdb7c96c/_V7A9650.jpg" data-mid="250354724" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a9cb9936b76b52f7df999c916a5a25f7a4886f1042e4dc75f7d59210cdb7c96c/_V7A9650.jpg" /> Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline (2025) Photo: Thais Coy This duet lasts about three to four minutes. Hamp and Bobcat move through the space with their headlamps on, creating shifting pockets of visibility, overlapping beams, and fleeting glimpses of each other. Toward the end of this section, they come to stillness, facing each other, switching their lamps on and off. It looks almost like a wordless Morse code, signals sent across a small, uncertain distance. Over this, I start playing audio clips of Hamp and Bobcat talking about ghosts, fragments from a conversation we recorded earlier in the process. As that plays, they make their way into the tent. The back projection comes to life, revealing 360° video of them inside the tent, performing a kind of séance. The words they speak in that video are actually lyrics from “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” repurposed as ritual text. The video then smash-cuts into an edited montage of them jumping and flinging themselves around inside the tent, captured from the 360° cameras’ perspective so it looks chaotic, almost unhinged, the tent thrashing, bodies colliding with the fabric from the inside. <img width="6551" height="4369" width_o="6551" height_o="4369" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc964508352b1b3feb6ac343a569d2e384c03e3b31a99663ff042619cd916114/_V7A9800.jpg" data-mid="250354723" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dc964508352b1b3feb6ac343a569d2e384c03e3b31a99663ff042619cd916114/_V7A9800.jpg" /> Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline (2025) Photo: Thais Coy While this frenetic 360° montage plays on the screen, the real tent onstage slowly rolls across the floor. Hamp and Bobcat then begin to deconstruct it, breaking it down piece by piece until it collapses into a simple pile of fabric. The projection ends as the tent is reduced to nothing but material. The performance ends there: lights down, ten minutes in total. What began as a quiet, almost invisible body in the dark has become a haunted, improvised structure that then unravels into its raw components. <img width="8192" height="5464" width_o="8192" height_o="5464" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b0864727fdb0dd79d94c495833c8fd660bf22eb7f84b7dd28c7b107733f83428/_V7A9348.jpg" data-mid="250354725" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b0864727fdb0dd79d94c495833c8fd660bf22eb7f84b7dd28c7b107733f83428/_V7A9348.jpg" /> Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline (2025) Photo: Thais Coy https://stewstew.cargo.site/Observation-Arena Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:40:47 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/Observation-Arena <img width="6176" height="3580" width_o="6176" height_o="3580" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd85d2c3636582f53b32479e6b4a23952a16ebd747b71e4babfa7c09e6389d09/editsFades.jpg" data-mid="215297283" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fd85d2c3636582f53b32479e6b4a23952a16ebd747b71e4babfa7c09e6389d09/editsFades.jpg" /> Observation Arena (2024) Stewart Skylar Copeland's "Observation Arena" is an 11 minute interactive documentary project built inside a video game engine. Using an Xbox controller, the audience/player decides which cameras to view and what information is displayed. Observation Arena recreates a conversation between the artist and his fiancée about her decision to use an AI-generated profile photo on LinkedIn. Their lighthearted chat touches on more serious themes and raises questions about identity, authenticity, and autonomy in today's world. The project builds on Stewart’s years of experimentation with recreating recorded conversations inside of real-time 3D environments. The conversations are always between Stewart and his partner, Ji Yoon. Two earlier projects Janus (2022) and This Sporting Life (2023) were developed using a program called TouchDesigner and designed specifically for installation where viewers used MIDI controllers to navigate the scenes. “Observation Arena” was created using Unreal Engine, a game design software. The webcam recordings used in the game were made in January 2024 and the project was completed the following June during Stewart’s residency at ARTS ITOYA. It was displayed publicly for the first time on June 26 in Takeo, Japan. <img width="1800" height="610" width_o="1800" height_o="610" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a451393c8b72bc233c153c5a661127e26e54bdfb1ec020b6c71d4d310eddfb93/pcDouble.jpg" data-mid="215297072" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a451393c8b72bc233c153c5a661127e26e54bdfb1ec020b6c71d4d310eddfb93/pcDouble.jpg" /> Postcard for Artist Talk (Takeo, Japan) <img width="400" height="225" width_o="400" height_o="225" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f9f1cd03aeaf48bc3ee6d6b90db2b7db7a17121c1d9bdd8a7c9f23e4c4cc0a4b/OAgif1_1.gif" data-mid="215297065" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/400/i/f9f1cd03aeaf48bc3ee6d6b90db2b7db7a17121c1d9bdd8a7c9f23e4c4cc0a4b/OAgif1_1.gif" /> <img width="400" height="225" width_o="400" height_o="225" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/73c2e4aba9f1f28a92bcf0b0b2b64c5a210b70e768ac63a44186a915ff3a894e/OAgif5_1.gif" data-mid="215297069" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/400/i/73c2e4aba9f1f28a92bcf0b0b2b64c5a210b70e768ac63a44186a915ff3a894e/OAgif5_1.gif" /> <img width="400" height="225" width_o="400" height_o="225" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/48e26b9f52f404c826f71a7e3d39ff1f0bf921e3ee10f518628e6c207c0d6e6e/OAgif6_1.gif" data-mid="215297070" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/400/i/48e26b9f52f404c826f71a7e3d39ff1f0bf921e3ee10f518628e6c207c0d6e6e/OAgif6_1.gif" /> <img width="400" height="225" width_o="400" height_o="225" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b056d75e233976e32bec5d23ecf2b571119a33dfd123cf591bd0d91f45c5703/OAgif7_1.gif" data-mid="215297071" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/400/i/1b056d75e233976e32bec5d23ecf2b571119a33dfd123cf591bd0d91f45c5703/OAgif7_1.gif" /> Observation Arena screen recordings Early iterations of “Observation Arena” allowed the player to roam a virtual space populated by multiple screens. However, players unfamiliar with first-person video game controls had difficulty navigating the scene and would often get frustrated trying to control the camera. The final version is inspired by the rubix cube. Players can zoom the camera in and out and pan slightly left and right. In order to change the video screen they see, they press trigger buttons on the controller to ‘spin’ the screens around or ‘flip’ them upside down. They also have the ability to ‘shift’ their view using the right thumbstick, but once the stick is released the view snaps back to center. The captions and other data can be toggled on and off from the controller. The audio is spatial and is altered by the location of the video screen in regards to the player controlled camera. <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2b95dbd844eef38fae57cda1280b192976333cb99ebd31342ca88225cd374239/aboutMENU.jpg" data-mid="216189259" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2b95dbd844eef38fae57cda1280b192976333cb99ebd31342ca88225cd374239/aboutMENU.jpg" /> <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b274b20a148a459113176e5e4123cbb2b040cfd1c682f39751610618b59e91d1/ConntrolsMENU.jpg" data-mid="216189260" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b274b20a148a459113176e5e4123cbb2b040cfd1c682f39751610618b59e91d1/ConntrolsMENU.jpg" /> Game “ABOUT” and “CONTROLS” Menu A very special thanks to Ji Yoon Chung for always playing along. I never get tired of talking to you. Thanks to Hirofumi Matsuzaki at ARTS ITOYA for his kindness and support. Charles Hill for the Japanese caption translation. All the old men at Takeo Onsen. Yuki &amp; Sol at IRIE. Nishi at Crossover. The Takeo Bakery Lady. Anna, Emily, Shelby, and Won for being great housemates. Thank you Takeo City, for being so welcoming and genuine. <img width="1000" height="1000" width_o="1000" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0bcc7d68fb3b9a98e4f1ddf945e9acf70a27566d424e1a286d7e5d01303471eb/Takeo.jpg" data-mid="216189144" border="0" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0bcc7d68fb3b9a98e4f1ddf945e9acf70a27566d424e1a286d7e5d01303471eb/Takeo.jpg" /> <img width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc9cd3dddb0da1c648efcb6dcf256169ca810c28af3343aa866acafd0c52b98a/titleGIF_1.gif" data-mid="216194613" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/bc9cd3dddb0da1c648efcb6dcf256169ca810c28af3343aa866acafd0c52b98a/titleGIF_1.gif" /> Download “OBSERVATION ARENA” for Windows! Observation Arena (v1.0.3.2) Clicking the link should automatically start download of the Zip fileOnce download is finished, extract the Zip File Run the .exe file NOTE: I will update this when I get the chance, but I wanted to provide some version for download as soon as possible. The file is large (1.33 Gb). This version will only run on Windows. Keyboard and Mouse work, but Gamepad is recommended. https://stewstew.cargo.site/A-Snow-Globe-From-Places-We-Couldn-t-Go Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:20:03 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/A-Snow-Globe-From-Places-We-Couldn-t-Go <img width="3024" height="3275" width_o="3024" height_o="3275" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3fed397c3c93092ad9557aa631cd20e85f410145c99bd2d8a26c12c112ca9617/SG1.jpg" data-mid="184060855" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3fed397c3c93092ad9557aa631cd20e85f410145c99bd2d8a26c12c112ca9617/SG1.jpg" /> A Snow Globe from Places We Couldn’t Go (2023) Currents New Media Festival (Santa Fe, NM) During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time watching publicly accessible webcam streams. There are a lot of options out there: the penguin tank at the Kansas City aquarium, the student quad at the University of Illinois, a botanical garden in Tokyo… Being able to remotely ‘experience’ these locations was as fascinating as it was frustrating, but this sort of remote tourism has no gift shop - There isn’t a t-shirt to buy, there is no commemorative plate. <img width="1800" height="1200" width_o="1800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94274e5def584b5715bfd3ebebd1aa995d0a4c67bbbc62c69f55d87b21b299fc/sg1.jpg" data-mid="185527431" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94274e5def584b5715bfd3ebebd1aa995d0a4c67bbbc62c69f55d87b21b299fc/sg1.jpg" /> A Snow Globe from Places We Couldn’t Go (2023) Currents New Media Festival (Santa Fe, NM) Photograph by August Baldy <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f27c80b0a2018f5b44345fc87209341a1e3f876018c50a968eb7c95a9dcaa59f/sg3.jpg" data-mid="184061026" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f27c80b0a2018f5b44345fc87209341a1e3f876018c50a968eb7c95a9dcaa59f/sg3.jpg" /> A Snow Globe from Places We Couldn’t Go (2023) Currents New Media Festival (Santa Fe, NM) A Snow Globe from Places We Couldn’t Go is a computer program that uses frame differencing to analyze multiple live webcam feeds from popular tourist locations around the world. Unique movement ‘blobs’ are mapped, extracted, and spatialized as animated textures in a virtual sphere. The swirling, chaotic amalgamation is projected onto the inside of a 4' dome. The dome sits inside a box, styled like a shipping crate, surrounded by pink packing peanuts. A small orange plaque is located at the back of the crate. Laser engraved on it are the GPS coordinates and names of the various webcam locations being sampled by the program. <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/283f1830a78115d83a7832a86e6dfd9698fdddc284b53f8658ea14f1d4c31a59/SG2.jpg" data-mid="184061025" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/283f1830a78115d83a7832a86e6dfd9698fdddc284b53f8658ea14f1d4c31a59/SG2.jpg" /> A Snow Globe from Places We Couldn’t Go (2023) Currents New Media Festival (Santa Fe, NM) <img width="2100" height="1400" width_o="2100" height_o="1400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be210b2e5d30b774d73345d1f9b81204eefaaf9c775df480f824e3f00ec7e37e/sg2.jpg" data-mid="185527536" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be210b2e5d30b774d73345d1f9b81204eefaaf9c775df480f824e3f00ec7e37e/sg2.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="2338" width_o="1800" height_o="2338" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9bfef7bb611b4703942cffbb31a441e78ada21216ce037e17cef05aabdfde677/sg4.jpg" data-mid="185528501" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9bfef7bb611b4703942cffbb31a441e78ada21216ce037e17cef05aabdfde677/sg4.jpg" /> A Snow Globe from Places We Couldn’t Go (2023) Currents New Media Festival (Santa Fe, NM) Photograph by August Baldy https://stewstew.cargo.site/A-Kindred-Soul Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:20:04 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/A-Kindred-Soul <img width="1256" height="3000" width_o="1256" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a36e730b2359a0345d0852d9643cfc7ca927f1dd2a0cb27be5ff709ce8f3c2c9/NoBGmed.jpg" data-mid="192341835" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a36e730b2359a0345d0852d9643cfc7ca927f1dd2a0cb27be5ff709ce8f3c2c9/NoBGmed.jpg" /> Kindred Soul (12” x 30” Monotype &amp; AR Model / 2023).Created during the Tamarind Institute One-Run Collaboration with printer Katherine Westbrook. A taxidermy in the Museum of Southwestern Biology is purported to be the original UNM mascot (a wolf that was captured in 1920 and used as a mascot until it bit a child during a game and was killed). There was no evidence of this connection in the UNM Southwest Archive, so I added this document into the archive. I created a 3D scan of the taxidermy and placed an AR trigger on the print so that the wolf can be rescued from its purgatory in the museum basement. <img width="889" height="500" width_o="889" height_o="500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/767a8f737c6878f03364d382bb4e6a41c4698cc70de34144e29064970f4591ce/L2a.gif" data-mid="192342001" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/889/i/767a8f737c6878f03364d382bb4e6a41c4698cc70de34144e29064970f4591ce/L2a.gif" /> <img width="889" height="500" width_o="889" height_o="500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae9a76218a57132ca01daf38d42dd1eef5c134fb3ed528ec3305a8de88597266/L2b.gif" data-mid="192342002" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/889/i/ae9a76218a57132ca01daf38d42dd1eef5c134fb3ed528ec3305a8de88597266/L2b.gif" /> https://stewstew.cargo.site/Random-House Sun, 24 Dec 2023 23:15:55 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/Random-House When I Facetime with my girlfriend I like to prop my iPhone up aginst a copy of Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock. I fell in love with the Random House logo on the spine. I remember thinking, “Wow, that house IS&nbsp;random.” I thought it would be funny to write some code to generate random houses in the style of this particular random house. <img width="1500" height="609" width_o="1500" height_o="609" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cd8e07d7eb152375ee05977eb920487784b1e900161b8d6714ff167b27e91356/rh1.png" data-mid="200486331" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cd8e07d7eb152375ee05977eb920487784b1e900161b8d6714ff167b27e91356/rh1.png" /> Adam Tschorn‘s LA Times blog post, Voltaire and the not-so-random Random House, explains that the first book published by Random House was Candide in 1928. A painter named Rockwell Kent was commissioned to illustrate the colophone page. His image of a tiny house “...was intended to depict the home where Candide and his companions lived out their days cultivating their garden as described in the last pages of the story.” <img width="1187" height="609" width_o="1187" height_o="609" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/754fc040018bc9eac5f269344ac6d587ca04a6638436398a6e93360761711307/rh3.gif" data-mid="200486332" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/754fc040018bc9eac5f269344ac6d587ca04a6638436398a6e93360761711307/rh3.gif" /> https://stewstew.cargo.site/Janus Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:20:04 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/Janus <img width="700" height="394" width_o="700" height_o="394" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5dc940090fb7211f18f622d0e0bcd16f865b9dd729612343f8d75e5b664eb19a/jDoc3_large.gif" data-mid="183223392" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/5dc940090fb7211f18f622d0e0bcd16f865b9dd729612343f8d75e5b664eb19a/jDoc3_large.gif" /> Janus (Interactive Video). GIF screen capture (2022) As a professor in studio art, web-based technologies, such as Zoom, Miro, and Discord, have allowed my students and I to maintain some continuity of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to cobble together a virtual approximation of an MFA studio experience until the world returned to normal. This, of course, has not happened. Instead, I continue to mentor students as they complete their final projects online, have their thesis shows online, graduate online, and say goodbye online. These simple web-based technologies are no longer temporary structures for communication, they have become the substrate of Being in the age of COVID-19. As my daily experience becomes increasingly virtual, the impact is surprisingly physical - which is to say, I feel awful. Janus (Interactive Video). Screen recording (2022) My digital experience is an embodied one with deeply complicated physical repercussions. However, the digital avatars I inhabit do a poor job embodying my physical state. I am often reduced to a video thumbnail inside a teleconference window grid, or my entire self reconstituted as a moving cursor in an online collaborative whiteboard. Janus reflects my first attempt to rethink the digital forms we inhabit and virtual spaces where we meet. It is a computer program that splits a video call into two separate A/V feeds and uses them to drive an AI facial tracking model. The mirror surface geometry of each face is reflecting the video feed of the speaker. Audio signal is converted into a displacement map and augments the opposite speaker's face. All of this is done in real-time and presented on a monitor with a MIDI controller and headphones. A viewer is able to orbit around the two faces and control where the camera is placed using the MIDI controller. The sound is spatial and the volume is affected by the camera's relation to the speaker. Hidden along the Z-Axis are the two referenced video feeds presented in black and white and facing opposite directions.&nbsp; <img width="2454" height="1424" width_o="2454" height_o="1424" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/985b74f0f4215fbf38cd0774c9d93dab7954d4c66b22eed7c5b17bf20d35cc2a/j_stillSheet.jpg" data-mid="183227193" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/985b74f0f4215fbf38cd0774c9d93dab7954d4c66b22eed7c5b17bf20d35cc2a/j_stillSheet.jpg" /> Janus (Interactive Video). Screen stills (2022) <img width="3887" height="2318" width_o="3887" height_o="2318" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a135a20da877537f86d009df00fd95d73254e62f82b941ea41a56e1288b6820d/j_install.jpg" data-mid="183226785" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a135a20da877537f86d009df00fd95d73254e62f82b941ea41a56e1288b6820d/j_install.jpg" /> Janus (Interactive Video). Installation View. Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Canada (August 2022) <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b885f1de9649eba413888e2f4285dab2019d17e600d34b0914a300df29fc558/j_install3.JPG" data-mid="183227002" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b885f1de9649eba413888e2f4285dab2019d17e600d34b0914a300df29fc558/j_install3.JPG" /> Janus (Interactive Video). Installation View. Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Canada (August 2022) <img width="1500" height="1075" width_o="1500" height_o="1075" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a473d9bf9f15a31b7dc50234f2045870a6b9d012a8daee10df7d41123a82c37/j_diagram.jpg" data-mid="183226660" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a473d9bf9f15a31b7dc50234f2045870a6b9d012a8daee10df7d41123a82c37/j_diagram.jpg" /> Janus Diagram (Paint, Pen, Paper). A hand-drawn computational diagram of the Janus program. https://stewstew.cargo.site/Christmas-Eve-Bryant-Park Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:20:05 +0000 stewstew.org https://stewstew.cargo.site/Christmas-Eve-Bryant-Park <img width="2832" height="4240" width_o="2832" height_o="4240" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4bffc1f6629ad7b5a4b6017b4b74b08f4e8754edf5f5c9afc7722e1dd825862a/b2.jpg" data-mid="183228736" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4bffc1f6629ad7b5a4b6017b4b74b08f4e8754edf5f5c9afc7722e1dd825862a/b2.jpg" /> Christmas Eve, Bryant Park (4 channel HD video). Installation view (2021) Christmas Eve, Bryant Park (4 channel HD video). A temporary installation at ARTSLab on Christmas Eve. A live webcam feed of the ice skating rink at Bryant Park is analyzed using frame differencing and unique movement blobs are mapped, extracted, and spatialized as animated textures in a three dimensional rotating cube. Christmas Eve, Bryant Park (4 channel HD video). Video screen recording (2021)