Introduction by Joshua Pablo Rosenstock (Chair)
Panelists:
The Orbitar (Kate Riegle-van West)
Sledgehammer-operated Keyboard (Taylor Hokanson)
Arduino-based Video Synth: An Open Source Interface (Sabine Gruffat)
Intimate Architectures/Social Gestures/Cinema Ontologies: Objects, Actions, Transitions, People and Environments (N_DREW aka Andrew Bucksbarg)
Developments in New Media performance and installation over the last few decades have extended the notion of an “instrument” beyond music-making and into new hybridized forms of multimedia. This panel examines the ways that New Media works can be considered instruments – wherein the artwork itself may possess intricate beauty, but does not reach its full potential until it is manipulated in virtuosic fashion into a media performance. Participants will share their own creations that are re-conceptualizing the very notion of an instrument with new types of gestures, techniques, and performances. Often times, interactive interfaces are designed to be as simple and accessible as possible; conversely, we’ll consider interfaces that are obtuse, eccentric, or baroque, and instruments that require expert practitioners or years of practice to fully utilize them.
