[-empyre-] April 1-15th on -empyre- Synaesthesia, with James Patterson, Amit Pitaru, and Joel Swanson

[Michael Arnold Mages <marnoldm@du.edu>]

Dear -empyreans-,

Please join me in welcoming artists Amit Pitaru, James Patterson, and Joel
Swanson, and guest moderator Jennifer Gunther, for two weeks' discussion on
the convergence of senses in their work.

-Michael 


April 1-15th : Synaesthesia, with guest moderator Jennifer Gunther

Synaesthesia is, literally, the convergence of senses. From the Greek roots
syn ("union") and aesthesis ("sensation"), synaesthesia describes a
phenomena where sound corresponds to colors or tastes. Some people, known as
synaesthetes, actually experience this involuntary convergence where
touching something gives a taste, hearing something produces a color in the
mind, and colors actually create sounds when seen. This is a condition for 1
in 2000 people, so it is not altogether uncommon. Though some have regarded
the online experience as breathing new life into the mind/body problem, many
artists are already working in a space that engages attention and sense in a
convergence across a broader perceptual spectrum.

Three artists will anchor the discussion of synaesthetic aspects of on-line
experience: Amit Pitaru, James Patterson, their collaborative work at
insertsilence.com, and Joel Swanson at hippocrit.com.



---> James Patterson is a visual artist who also works as an illustrator,
broadcast & web designer. James' synthesis of drawing, animation and
programming has attracted the attention of a variety of galleries and
clients worldwide. His work exists online at two primary sites:
http://Presstube.com (his personal space) and http://InsertSilence.com
(shared with Amit Pitaru). James was born in London, England in 1980 and
currently lives in Montreal, Canada.

---> Amit Pitaru (b.1974) creates new tools to facilitate his work and work
in audio-visual arts and interaction/usability design. Pitaru has exhibited
and performed concerts worldwide. His personal and collaborative work with
James Paterson has recently been shown at the London Design Museum,
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Israel Museum, Paris Pompidou Center,
Sundance Film festival, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, and ICC Museum in
Tokyo. As an educator, Pitaru develops curricula that focus on the coupling
of computation-design and creative thought process. He regularly teaches at
New York University's ITP and Cooper Union. Pitaru is a recipient of various
prestigious awards, including two Ars Electronica Prix honorary awards and
Tokyo Type Directors Club awards. Beyond his artwork, Pitaru is currently
working on new gaming interfaces for children with special needs and the
elderly. Born in Jerusalem, Pitaru currently resides in New York with his
wife Makiko. <http://pitaru.com> <http://insertsilence.com>

---> Joel Swanson is an artist and writer who currently teaches courses on
art, technology, and media theory at the ATLAS Institute at the University
of Colorado in Boulder.  His work consists of articulated reading
environments, both real and virtual.  Thematically his installations
interrogate relationships of power as they relates to space, discourse,
language, meaning and subjectivity.  He is also interested in the
implications of the material specificity of discourse and its effects on
both reader and writer. Swanson¹s work has been shown in various national
and international venues.  Joel's work is viewable at:
http://www.hippocrit.com


Also joining us for the first half of April, will be guest moderator
Jennifer Gunther [http://auspiciousmotion.org].  Jennifer is a student in
the University of Colorado's Digital Media program, and writes for the Anita
Borg Institute for Women and Technology.