16 Jul 2011

UCF Arts in State Buildings Program: Forth by Karolina Sobecka

University of Central Florida presents a recently launched Art In State commission Forth by Karolina Sobecka

Forth employs computer simulation techniques, interactivity and real time audio synthesis to generate a dynamically changing ocean scene. The seascape is subject to the local weather conditions: the wave height and the atmospheric conditions in the virtual environment reflect the weather sampled in real time in Orlando and at the Florida coast. The people in the boats try to maintain balance within their constantly changing environment, just as we adjust to our own circumstances. The viewers in the lobby are tracked by a camera and represented in the projection as paper boats floating on the ocean. The rowers may pick up these paper boats — bridging the real and virtual worlds.

Software development for Forth was led by James George. Sound design was created by Michael McCrea.

To find out more please visit www.flightphase.com/peopleInBoats/images-and-videos

Karolina Sobecka is a Polish-born artist and researcher whose work spans various disciplines and media focusing on emerging technologies and conceptual design. In a playful and sometimes provocative way, her work exposes the interplay of our desires, beliefs and the biological, social and psychological constraints of our world. Values instilled in us by our cultural systems, real and constructed behaviors and feelings, conflict between personal and group ethics, and the relationship between free will and determinism are some of the topics explored in her recent participatory interventions, public interactive installations and conceptual design.
www.gravitytrap.com