Press Release: Interactivity!

I know I say this every time I issue a release, but I really think this next show will be our best one yet. If you've had a chance to check out the bathroom mirrors by The Barbarian Group you know how awesome they are--that is only the tip of the awesome iceberg that is coming to McLeod Residence in a few weeks. See you there!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Maggie Santolla McLeod, Press Relations
maggie.santolla@gmail.com

Lele McLeod, Gallery
leleblixa@gmail.com
206-441-3314

Art and Technology Interact at McLeod Residence
Interactivity Encourages Patrons to Touch the Art

Member Preview: Thursday, July 5, 6pm-12am
Opening Reception: Friday, July 6, 6pm-9pm

Seattle, WA--June 13, 2007--Interactivity, the latest exhibit at Belltown’s McLeod Residence, explores the convergence of art and technology with an entire gallery full of electronic art that patrons will be invited to play with. Featuring work by The Barbarian Group, Maggie Orth, Joel S. Kollin and Felix Livni, Interactivity opens with a reception on Friday, July 6, from 6-9pm. The exhibits will be on display until September 1.

One of the goals of McLeod Residence founders Lele McLeod and Buster McLeod is to encourage and exhibit artists working with technology and computer programming. Lele and Buster have been involved in the art and technology scenes, respectively, for many years, and it was only natural that they should combine their interests at McLeod Residence. Interactivity is the first exhibit at McLeod Residence to focus almost entirely on artists working with technology and programmers creating art and a bold step in carving out their niche.

The Barbarian Group, an interactive marketing firm based is Boston, is currently showing McLeod Mirror Series 1: See Yourself in Others in the McLeod Residence bathrooms. The “mirror” is actually an LCD screen housed in a wooden case with a web cam attached to the top. The camera records the viewer and creates a collage of the person’s image along with images of everyone else who has stood before the mirror. During Interactivity the Barbarians will expand into the South Room and the Conservatory as well. The South Room will feature computer-generated limited edition prints mounted on the room’s lightboxes. The prints are based on generative computations that are converted into 3-D landscapes and given texture and depth in Maya, a modeling and animation program. The result is a series of prints reminiscent of images from an electron microscope used on various alien textures.

In the Conservatory, the Barbarians will explore the physical world through a series of mechanical butterflies, made with Arduino (an open-source computing platform), stepper motors, paper, fabric, rare earth magnets, electromagnets, laser-cut wings and sensors that allow for interaction with the physical realm. These little mechanical creatures must be seen in person to be believed.

The Barbarian Group describes themselves as a group of art directors, industrial designers, interactive artists, developers, animators, illustrators and more who strive for the perfect marriage of creative and technology with interactivity as their canvas. They found fame with innovative web projects such as The Subservient Chicken for Burger King (http://www.subservientchicken.com), Become an M&M for Masterfoods, The Beer Cannon for Milwaukee’s Best Light and Comcastic for Comcast. While the Barbarians have dabbled in installation work for clients, the McLeod Residence exhibit marks the first pure art installation the Barbarians have undertaken as an organization.

Maggie Orth returns to McLeod Residence with an installation of electronic interactive fabrics in the Parlor. Maggie’s work with her company International Fashion Machines juxtaposes the more masculine world of technology with the traditionally feminine realm of fabric arts. Running Plaid is a large woven circuit that combines electrodes woven with conductive yarn, thermochromic inks, drive electronics and expressive software. When the viewer pushes a button located on the frame, electronics send current through the fabric to individual pixels. Resistive yarns in the fabric heat up and the thermochromic ink responds by changing color, beginning a sequence of color-change events and patterns on the surface of the textile. The expressive software controls the patterns and sequences of the color-change events. By integrating electronics directly into hand woven fabric, Running Plaid explores the perceptual, material and expressive possibilities of animating textiles, a traditionally static media.

Petal Pusher is an interactive fabric and light installation that explores the hidden electrical and transmissive properties of textiles. The installation is made of a grid of 21 unique textiles mounted on lightboxes. The patterns on the textiles all derive from a single motif. Each pattern is embroidered on wool felt and tufted with electronic yarns. When viewers touch the tufted areas, the felt and embroidered yarns are illuminated from behind, revealing the light-transmissive properties of the fabric. Color variation and reflection change as viewers illuminate different panels and create different configurations on the grid. Each pattern is available in limited edition of 12.

Joel S. Kollin is a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington's Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media. Contextures is his series of work that engages the viewer's visual system by challenging its ability to form a stable image. Contexture1  (Portal) uses scattered coherent light to form superimposed speckled patterns that move with eye and head motion. As the three-dimensional shifting colored light patterns seen in the portal are dependent on both the viewer's position and the individual characteristics of their eyes, there is no objective or stable image; the experience is different for every viewer. Dynamic visual noise also invokes the phenomena of "stochastic resonance," temporarily changing the liminal threshold of contrast detection in the retina and making everything appear to sparkle. This effect may be noticeable for a brief time after viewing the work, but will soon fade and is not harmful.

Felix Livni will show a series of four identical pieces, titled The Four Seasons, in the McLeod Room. The pieces feature a repeating tree motif. A developer who works with traditional art outside the office, Felix is interested in breaking down images into their simplest parts to explore how they work and the point at which they stop working altogether. Felix uses acrylic paints, photographic or serigraphic techniques, beeswax, and synthetic resins to create his simple two-tone images.

The Lounge features McLeod Residence’s ongoing installation of neon work by Jeremy Bert and Jen Elek and furniture by Gary Andolina and James Reinhardt.

* * *
McLeod Residence, located at 2209 Second Avenue in Seattle, Washington, is a home for extraordinary living through art, technology and collaboration. Proprietors Buster McLeod and Lele McLeod founded McLeod Residence in 2006. McLeod Residence is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. For more information, contact McLeod Residence at 206-441-3314 or visit www.mcleodresidence.com.