TABLE OF CONTENTS

After Midnight

Media Art in Beijing

by Li Zhenhua

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Artist Article

Gathered from Coincidence: Reflections on Art in a Time of Global Warming

by George Gessert

ABSTRACT: How will global warming affect art? The author proposes that the effects will be continuous with other human-caused threats to civilization such as nuclear weapons. Such threats have already contributed to devaluation of the human figure. In many different times and places, the primary focus of art, with the notable exception of Western art, has been on nonhuman imagery. Global warming will give this new significance. Questions of permanence and impermanence in art are also likely to become more relevant.

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Theoretical Perspectives

The Perception of Nonmaterial Objects and Events

by William H. Ittelson

ABSTRACT: All animals receive light and sound from the surrounding world and use this input to provide information about the material properties of that world. Humans, in addition, are able to utilize information in light and sound that has nothing to do with its material source but is about objects and events that are not materially present and may have no material existence at all. The author argues that this perceptual capacity is a necessary condition for the development of the arts, humanities, science and all that is considered uniquely human.

The Nature and Functions of Synesthesia in Music

by Bulat Galeyev

ABSTRACT: The author considers the phenomenon of synesthesia, defining it as intersensory association formed by similarity or “contiguity” of heteromodal perceptions. The results of this associative process (occurring mainly at the subconscious level), when coming to the light of consciousness, may be fixed either in verbal form or directly in the sensuous material of the nonverbal arts (most significantly music). Synesthesia calls forth such notions as "melody line," "the hearing space" and "tone color," and makes it possible to perceive sounds and chords as "sharp," "dull" or "high." Synesthesia (and the particular case of "color hearing") is the essential component of musical thinking, first of all, in music intended to evoke images.

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General Articles

SwarmArt: Interactive Art from Swarm Intelligence

by Christian Jacob, Gerald Hushlak, Jeffrey Boyd et al.

ABSTRACT: Swarms of bees, colonies of ants, schools of fish, flocks of birds, and fireflies flashing synchronously are all examples of highly coordinated behaviors that emerge from collective, decentralized intelligence. Local interactions among a multitude of agents or “swarmettes” lead to a variety of dynamic patterns that may seem like choreographed movements of a meta-organism. This paper describes SwarmArt, a collaborative project between several computer scientists and an artist, which resulted in interactive installations that explore and incorporate basic mechanisms of swarm intelligence. The authors describe the scientific context of the artwork, how user interaction is provided through video surveillance technology, and how the swarm-based simulations were implemented at exhibitions and galleries.

The Non-Realistic Nature of Photography: Further Reasons Why Turner Was Wrong

by Richard Latto and Bernard Harper

ABSTRACT: The authors discuss the limitations of photography in producing representations that lead to the accurate perception of shapes. In particular, they consider two situations in which the photographic representation, although an accurate reproduction of the geometry of the two-dimensional image in the eye, does not capture the way human vision changes this geometry to produce a three-dimensionally accurate perception. When looking at a photograph, the viewer’s uncertainty of the camera-to-subject distance and the fact that, unnaturally, a photograph presents almost exactly the same view of an object to the two eyes result in substantially distorted perceptions. These most commonly result in a perceived flattening and fattening of the 3D shape of the object being photographed.

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General Note

Games of Pain: Pain as Haptic Stimulation in Computer-Game--Based Media Art

by Pau Waelder Laso

ABSTRACT: The text describes several media-art projects that introduce pain as a form of interaction within the context of a two-player game: PainStation (2001--2003) and LegShocker (2002) by Tilman Reiff and Volker Morawe, Tekken Torture (2001) by C-Level and Tazer Tag (2005) by Randy Sarafan. By presenting these examples and briefly analyzing the nature of pain and games, this text offers an overview of the implications of incorporating pain into a computer game and presents an approach to the motivations that lead players to perceive a painful experience as fun and addictive.

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Special Section: ArtScience: The Essential Connection

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: Structure as Art

by Robert Root-Bernstein

Fractal Reactor: Re-Creating the Sun

by Todd Siler

ABSTRACT: The author recounts his quest to design an alternative plasma fusion device that could generate limitless energy through nuclear fusion. The proposed Fractal Reactor is based on fractal geometry rather than the Euclidean geometry used in the designs for the containment systems of plasma fusion devices. Fusion energy systems might become more effective if they more closely embody the geometry and physics of stars, nature's "fractal reactors." The author aims to work with nature and not against it in controlling the forces that govern burning plasmas. Instead of jamming the square peg of Euclidean geometry into the round hole of fractal geometry, the author considers exerting intense forces on plasmas that approximate the gravitational forces in a star.

The Study of Patterns Is Profound

by Trudy Myrrh Reagan

ABSTRACT: The author has studied natural patterns both by drawing them and by finding analogs for them in crafts materials and processes, including batik, shibori, wrinkled paper painting, paper marbling, moiré, painting and engraving on Plexiglas. She discusses the generation of patterns in nature and how scientists’ understanding of them has expanded during the period of her own explorations. She recommends this study for enhancing one’s connection to the natural world and the cosmos. The author also explains how she has found patterns useful as metaphors for philosophical ideas.

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Leonardo Reviews

Reviews by Fred Andersson, Wildred Niels Arnold, Jan Baetens, Roy R. Behrens, Allan Graubard, Rob Harle, Amy Ione, Martha Patricia Niño Mojica, Kathleen Quillian, Eugene Thacker and Stefaan Van Ryssen, Jonathan Zilberg.

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