Our Art and Technology Panel
by Bruno Bayley July 17, 2010
Shane Walter of onedotzero hosted the panel talk this afternoon. Walter’s panelists included Chris Allen from The Light Surgeons, Mira Calix, Moritz Waldemeyer and Eric Dalbin. He opened the talk explaining that the barriers today between art, music, design and technology are breaking down. Today all these things have simply become a single, wider culture, he said.
First to introduce himself was Parisian Eric Dalbin, founder of Dalbin Records, who strives, through his label, to utilise technology in order to support and help realise the ideas of those he works with. Dalbin said that Google Apps is the most important technological aid in his life, allowing him to keep up to date with his network of music, design, and visual experts.
Mira Calix, the British composer and DJ, manages to traverse a number of disciplines. She spoke about her Secret Heart project. Three years in the making, she brought in various visual artists and sound designers for the project. Over time, her original idea grew into a web of creative minds each using technology to reach an overall goal. The project focuses on 100 homeless, or one-time homeless people. She pointed out that “without the human element the technology side of the project was just a tool lying there”.
Moritz Waldemeyer, though originally trained as an engineer, has gone on to be something of a hybrid creator, fusing technology and emotion. His exhibit featured at The Creators Project – a chair entitled By Royal Appointment – was inspired by a period of work with fashion clients as well as historical and artistic images of royalty. Most recently he teamed up with the world’s leading martial artists, designing LED weapons that, when wielded, leave arcing impressions and shapes in the air.
Chris Allen, founder of The Light Surgeons, began his career creating visuals for clubs. Aiming to combine obsolete technology and interesting ideas, Chris admitted that the key breakthrough for him was the arrival of digital film and the opportunity to edit his own projects. The piece he focused on today was a commission he worked on for the Museum of London—a half-hour film of London transferred onto a 360-degree screen, combined with live updates, news, information and imaging. The film will screen constantly for two years without ever repeating itself, creating an anthropomorphic view of the city.
The panel discussed the influence of technology and voiced concern that the abundance of technology today has undermined the level of excitement surrounding new developments, and warned of a possible indifference to advances.
The panel, led by Moritz, agreed that the benefits of meeting in person, and the viewing work in situ, will never disappear in spite of the ease with which people can today view so much online. Mira concluded that every artwork or project works best when used in the context that it was originally intended for. Towards the end of the talk there was a question from a member of the audience about the elitism of technology and the failure to connect with those people in the world who are not online or not media savvy. To an extent, the panel concluded, it is the people who have the most important things to say who are least able to say them.
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