CAM|Contemporary Art Museum
Contemporary Art Foundation, Raleigh
http://cam.ncsu.edu/
Spring 2007

DISCOURSE
This collaborative studio was developed with Raleigh’s newly formed Contemporary Art Museum, CAM+Raleigh, to produce a body of work based on the theme “ROUTINE”. CAM’s vision is to redefine the relationship of museums and communities by presenting art exhibitions and public programs that illustrate the relevance of contemporary art and design to our everyday lives.

Throughout the semester, the studio met with the staff of CAM+Raleigh towards the creation of a final exhibition of the studio’s work. In addition to completing technical training in a full array of multimedia technologies, (Flash, Actionscript, Maya, AfterEffects, Photoshop), students were asked to document and emphasize their creative process in their studio work towards the development of finished works of “installation art”.

Art+Design students also worked with Tony Brock’s GD400 Level Graphic Design studio as a semi-shared, collaborative initiative.  Creativity in concept and execution (the creative process) was a major focus of this studio. Extensive iterative storyboarding, analysis of the relationship of sound to kinetic image, innovative uses of interactivity and high personal standards for craftsmanship were core notions defining the essential qualities of this project. The idea of this cross-disciplinary approach reflects the increasingly blurred edges of multimedia art and design. The use of different creative approaches from each discipline to various CAM related projects were synergetic and educational.

Experimental research into alternative, interactive new media installations for education and entertainment. This form of large-scale digital exhibit, introduces designers to sensor data from external sources that utilize dynamic content creating a unique interactive experience that is both larger-than-life size and immersive in the experience. Utilizes Flash Actionscript,, gesture recognition, infrared web camera tracking, Makingthings Teleos system and XML/RSS datasets.

[ IMI: Interactive Mirror Installation ]

This is experimental project into alternative, interactive new media installations for education and entertainment. “CAM,” no longer a “Contemporary Art Museum,” but keeping the acronym, seeks to get community involvement in artistic & creative events and hopes to infuse creativity into education in downtown Raleigh. It is not our intent with this project to turn designers into engineers. Our intention was based on the principle of having non-technologists work together with technology outside their expertise to produce artifacts that are informative, entertaining and promote an exchange of dialogue over design, technology and society. At the completion of this project typical design students in this research collaboration developed an understanding of technical design integration, a vocabulary of the field and a working knowledge on the application of technology in different disciplines. The initial large-scale, Interactive Mirror Installation, introduced designers to sensor data from external sources and utilized dynamic content creating a unique interactive experience.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORT 
Creation of the CAM+Raleigh Interactive Mirror Installation and the content was a collaborative effort. Pat FitzGerald and Tony Brock developed the exhibit and the technology concept. Lee Cherry and Ryan DeWitt integrated the sensor system and were responsible for video integration and user-interface programming for the new platform.

sponsor
Contemporary Art Museum + Raleigh, NC 
http://www.cam.ncsu.edu/

credits
Tony Brock 
Assistant Professor, Graphic Design
Personal Website

Lee Cherry 
Manager, Advanced Media Lab
919.515.1259
design@onebitpixel.com
Personal Website

Ryan DeWitt 
Assistant Professor, Art+Design
rdewitt@ncsu.edu
Personal Website

Patrick FitzGerald 
Associate Professor, Art+Design
pat_fitzgerald@ncsu.edu
919.513-2029
Personal Website

 

special thanks 
Carolina glass & Mirror 
3501 Integrity Drive
Garner, NC 27529
919.662.9050
info@carolinaglass.com
http://www.carolinaglass.com/

contact
Nicole Welch 
Curator of Education, CAM
NC State College of Design
Campus Box 7701
Raleigh, NC 27695
nicole_welch@ncsu.edu
919.513.0946
http://www.camnc.org

Sherry O’Neal 
Director of Communications, College External Relations
NC State University, College of Design
Campus Box 7701
Raleigh , NC 27695-7701
sherry_oneal@ncsu.edu
919.515.8311