[-empyre-] Welcome Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray

[Renate Ferro]

A very warm welcome to Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray for being our first
week's host for the -empyre-discussion on  "Wired Sustainability".  Britta
and Rebecca are collaborators in their art and design work.  We enjoyed
Rebecca and Britta's exhibit "drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee", a project about
the role our bodies play in larger ecosystems, at Eyebeam in New York City
 and enjoyed speaking with Britta about the project on site. Here are
biographies of each of our guests.  We are hoping that you will enjoy this
months discussion about issues that converge art and technology with the
environment and sustainability and we are looking forward to chatting with
all of you on line.

Renate and Tim

Rebecca Bray is a new media artist and designer whose work tends to focus on
interactions with and inquiries into the invisible worlds of systems that
surround us. Her work includes an interactive exhibit currently on display
in the American Museum of Natural History's Water show; Botanicalls, a
system that allows plants to call people when they are in need of
assistance; and The Meatrix, the online film. She has served as
Sustainability Facilitator at Eyebeam, as Art Director of Sustainable Table,
and has spoken on numerous panels about the intersections between new media
and environmental advocacy. Rebecca is Co-Founder of Submersible Design, a
company dedicated to helping institutions such as the Museum of Science and
Industry, the Smithsonian Institution, and American Museum of Natural
History. With Britta Riley, she has created the DrinkPeeDrinkPeeDrinkPee
installation and DIY Kits currently being shown at the Eyebeam FEEDBACK
show.

 Britta Riley is an artist and designer. As an artist, she is committed to
the continued evolution of the human senses and believes increased
sensory potential correlates with the motivation toward and efficacy of
environmental stewardship. Her interactive sculptures often employ
pliable naturally-derived materials- such as fluids, aquatic ecosystems,
fabric, and anything fleshy. Playing with these complex and sometimes
unfamiliar materials builds a sensory understanding of the physics and
material exchanges governing their behavior. At Tonic, the experimental
music venue in New York, she demonstrated the
<http://www.submersibledesign.com/gourdsac.html>Gourdsac for Ipod, a
musical instrument accessory for the Ipod that allows the user to "jam"
with her music by means of flicking and yanking tiny rubbery resonant
chambers. During an installation at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab,
visitors controlled the
<http://www.submersibledesign.com/snackfax.html>SnackFax, a robotic
sculpture that moves in 3 dimensions and squirts out sculptural mounds of
edible cake frosting. Currently on view at Eyebeam, the installation,
<http://www.submersibledesign.com/drinkpee/index.html>DrinkPeeDrinkPeeDrinkPee,
examines the biochemical role of our bodies' daily fluid output on the
larger ecosystem. The accompanying
<http://www.submersibledesign.com/drinkpee/diy.html>Urine-to-Fertilizer
DIY Kit allows users a very personal sensory experience of the
biochemical transformation their own waste into plant food. Britta
co-founded <http://www.submersibledesign.com>Submersible Design, which
consults with museums and environmental non-profits on the presentation
of in-depth content in exhibitions and digital media.




Renate Ferro
Cornell University
Visiting Assistant Professor
Fine Arts
Tjaden Hall
Ithaca, NY  14853
rtf9 at cornell.edu
Home Page:  <http://www.renateferro.net>