Summation

Ten days of fun but intense computer work by a group of artists from around the room, each with a unique perspective on utilizing technology to expand the possibilities of artistic expression, lead by two amazing artist/teachers, Dawn Stopplello and Mark Coniglio, who added a great deal of artistic depth and discussion to a technically driven workshop. The workshop was amazing. As a last minute applicant, I am very happy I was invited in to play. My knowledge of Isadora has grown ten-fold. While I knew the basics of video manipulation when I arrived, I now have a firm understanding of the complex scenes and the dynamic interactivity that can be created with this software.

As important, I had the chance to work, play and watch a wonderful group of people explore the creative possibilities that can only occur through convergence of art and technology.

My time here was well spent.

June 20

The final day of the workshop.

In the morning, we spent time finalizing our showcase pieces and prepping the space for the event. As time allowed, a few of us continued to learn new aspects of Isadora, Mark spent some time with Hugh Conacher and I showing us the midi and DMX actors in Isadora for show control. I also spent some time creating an voice activated oscilloscope that would display vocal patterns.

The afternoon showcase began at 4 PM and was attended by about 20 guests. The presentation went smoothly and everyone gave a good showing. Below is a clip of my final piece titled Words, Words, Words.



This installation piece explores human-computer interaction. Traditionally humans control the machine but in this interactive piece the roles are reversed. The laptop monitor, through a wave generator, beckons the unsuspecting participant to "Come Here." As they approach, a video camera mounted over head is used as a visual sensor and triggers the next several events that boss the human around the space. When the participant screams on command, her voice, through the use of a listening sensor in the computer, triggers the sequence telling her to dance. The iSight camera in the laptop captures the video feed which is blended with a video clip to create the visuals seen. The final text sequence is controlled with envelop generators and timed to allow the participant to exit the space before it resets itself to the beginning ready to repeat the sequence when triggered by the next participant who walks towards the laptop. This event is totally self-contained. Once activated, no operator is needed for the system to function. It will loop, pause, and await sensory data as necessary until deactivated.

June 19

Today we finished the bits and piece of the workshop, picking up a few useful hints and processes. We then spent the length of the day finishing and setting up or final projects for tomorrow. I got mine project set up and it all works so I am ready for our event.

We were able to take a few minutes to see a demo of the Eyeliner system they have at 3 Legged Dog. It is an innovative projection system based on the 19th century theatre technique called Pepper's Ghost, I had seen the system before but it is still amazing to watch.

Tonight I plan on going over to the Apple Store near my apartment and then packing to leave Sunday AM.

Tomorrow is our final showcase! It has been a good trip but I am ready to get home!

June 18 - Sessions and Friends

This evening after the workshop, I headed uptown the Drama Book Store on 40th street and bought some new scripts then headed out to buy gifts for Eli and Callista (No coffee mugs or T-Shirts but I did get my magnet!)

I grabbed a quick bite for dinner and then headed off to see Sessions, a new musical at the Algonquin Theatre that is being Stage Managed by Lara Maerz, one of the best SM's I have ever worked with (and one of my former students from TCU I am proud to say.)

The musical is about a therapist and the sessions he has with this clients. From their website:

Dr. Peter Peterson listens, advises and tests his patients. What good therapist wouldn’t? Particularly when your group includes:

a bickering marriage just won’t go away, a rich kid who found his voice in Bob Dylan, a reluctant man who has longed for the same woman for 15 years, a young woman who has spent so much time in therapy she might get out, a billionaire who finds no solace in his money, a strong willed woman with a dark secret, and a provocative siren in high heels...

At once a drama and a comedy with poignant and hilarious moments alike, Sessions is a new musical for a modern generation. After all, couldn’t we all use a little therapy?

The show was fun and had a very talented cast including Robert Newman as Dr. Peterson. (I guess he is a big soap star. His bio says he has just celebrated his 28th year on the longest running show in the history of broadcast, CBS’s Guiding Light. )

I was joined on this outing with two more former students from TCU, John and Erin Patrick. After the show we all went out for drinks and laughed about the good times we had in Fort Worth.



On m way home, I found that there was an Apple store only five blocks from my apartment so I know where I am going Friday Night!

June 18

Raining again in NYC. Good thing we are working indoor. It as rained almost everyday with possibly three exceptions over the last two weeks.

We spent the morning learning how to create our own actors and control panels in Isadora. The ability to create actors allows you to streamline processes. For example, you need to be able to calibrate the thresholds of a camera to be able to use it as a sensor. By pulling the existing actors needed to calibrate the levels into a new single actor allows you to quickly set up a patch.

Control Panels create a visual user interface made up of button, sliders, and bins that allow the user to run an event without having to access the actors directly. By creating a Control Panel, you are able to safe guard certain attributes and connections from being changed while giving the needed controls to the user.

In the afternoon we further explored various tracking methodologies and spent time working on our final projects. After careful thought about how I wanted the audience to interface with my project and what I wanted them to walk away with, I streamline the project down and simplified the triggers. I am much happier with the project now. It works, is fun, and utilizes both visual and sound sensors, as well as live video in a way that is appropriate to the piece.

June 17

Today began with show and tell of our final projects just as an opportunity to give and receive feedback to the works in progress. Everyone in the group is working in different areas and the projects are quite unique. Below is a short clip from Sissel Romme Christensen's project. The cutout projection surfaces and how she integrated the media into them was very imaginative. The images in this clip are being triggered by sound.



I discovered (again) that I am trying to do too much, so I am cutting back my project even more. We had a great group discussion on why less is more and the consideration that is needed to design an appropriate system for the aesthetics of the piece you are creating. It was a very refreshing discussion and gave me lots to consider.



In the afternoon we learned about tracking through contrast, color and infrared. Isadora has an actor called Eyes that allows you to specify one attribute (the lightest object or the red object) and follow it within the frame of the camera. Once you have established the threshold and locked on to that object, you can assign the coordinates of what you are tracking to another actor in Isadora to have them “follow.” There are limitations to the tracking such as the lightness must remain consistent because the system will pick up a lighter contrast object if it is brought into the space at the same time.

Infrared tracking is more complicated, requiring you to illuminate the back surface with infrared light and have a camera that can pick up infrared, but the specificity of the tracking is more detailed and does not rely on visible light so you can track a performer in a black-out allowing for some exciting possibilities to explore in setting stage composition.

Wednesday night I had dinner with Skip and Ellen Reiss. Skip is one of the leaders in Arts Management in the US. We met back when I was the Artistic Director of Island Center on St. Croix. Ship has been a tremendous resource for both my students and myself over the years. It was wonderful to catch up with him and his beautiful wife while enjoying my first “home cooked meal” since arriving in the city.

June 16

A full work day. We hooked our computers up to cameras and projectors today and took the next step in the realization of our final projects. A lot of creativity going on in the room that is exciting to watch. Our final showing has been announced. We will present our projects on Saturday, June 20 from 2p - 4p at 3LD Art & Technology Center on 80 Greenwich St. in NYC. A significant amount of our time will now be spent on moving these projects forward.

After dinner, I continued working on my project, which I have called 'Words,Words,Words." Jim Ferolo sent me a link to a wonderful web-based media depository, The Prelinger Archives, where I found a few media asset that I integrated into my project.

Depending on class structure, I hope to spend time calibrating my sensors tomorrow to get the effect I am working for. As usual, I overly complicated the first rendition of my project and was forced to cut it back. Using an over-head camera as a video sensor I had divided the stage into the traditional 9 areas. movement in any of these 9 areas would trigger a specific event. However, given the distance of the camera to the head of a person moving it was impossible for a person to be in only one area so I scaled down to 6 and then four stage areas for the project. The important lessoned learned is that I am able to now specify the sensor the area to any area of the stage on any plane that I want.

June 15

Today was the most advance work with Isadora to date. We have begun exploring external sensors as a way of influencing media elements and actors in the program. The two sensors we worked with were Sound and Video by using the internal microphone on our computer and a video camera attached to the system by Firewire.

Through the Sound Level Watcher we were able to create both Continuous Controllers and Triggers actuated by the volume of our voice. We also explored the Sound Frequency Watcher that let us specify a certain pitch of sound the actuate actions.

With our video cameras live capturing the space, we created a patch of four actors that turned the input into a camera sensor.

The Video In Watcher captured the live feed. That feed was converted into contrast by using Difference. The variances of the contrast (Dark vs Bright) were calculated by the Calculate Brightness Actor (which was calibrated to the space). The values generated by this actor were limited to a fixed range by a Limit Scale Value and Smother to create the variables that influence the media assets attached to the patch. With this in place, the intensity of a person's movement in front of the camera is read and converted into a variable that can influence a piece of media.

After learning the technology, we spent the afternoon developing a project that was based on a free write followed by an exploration of those words through movement - using our left-brains to create concept and our right brains to create the tools.

I was energized by this approach and dove back into my work with interesting ideas that kept me going until 12:30 AM.

June 14 - Fuerza Bruta

Has a very restful and exciting day today. Slept in, took care of housekeeping, and caught up on this blog.

Had lunch with my Niece, Courtney, who is studying Government Policy Analysis at NYU. She is a smart young lady with a very good head on her shoulders and will go far.



It was a beautiful day in the city: wonderful weather, the sun was shining (at last),and people were out enjoying the parks. Nice day to be out in the city.



This evening I saw a production that is beyond description - Fuerza Bruta. Words cannot truly describe the experieince of this show. Their websute says the show is "a non-stop collision of dynamic music, visceral emotion, and kinetic aerial imagery."

The imaginative staging, elevated water stages, and aerial work in the show is mind-bending. I left the performance space energized and flying. These clips can barely do justice to the event.

June 13 - The Norman Conquests

OMG! This is the funnest day I have ever spent in the theatre. Three hilarious plays back to back in one day. (We were dark for the weekend at the workshop.)


The Norman Conquests, by Alan Ayckbourn, is three interlocking full-length plays -- Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden -- that are ingeniously written to be enjoyed individually or as a trilogy, and can be seen in any order. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing all three on one of the "Trilogy days."

Set in the dining room (Table Manners), living room (Living Together) and garden (Round and Round the Garden) of an English country house, each individual play offers a different view of one comically catastrophic weekend, shared by six spouses and in-laws, at the family home in the country. And while each play is complete on its own terms, by viewing all three plays (in any order), the audience is able, detective-like, to piece together all of the hidden secrets and lies, the outrageous, hilarious and shocking interactions, which occur over the course of the weekend. And there are some wonderful and brilliant surprises! We watch as desperate lothario Norman (Brilliantly played by Stephen Mangan) attempts to seduce his sister-in-law Annie (Jessica Hynes), charm his brother-in-law's wife Sarah (Amanda Root) and woo his estranged wife Ruth (Amelia Bullmore), during a disastrously hilarious weekend of eating, drinking and misunderstanding. With his characteristic compassionate humor, Ayckbourn explores the disappointments bubbling beneath the surface as his characters' dreams of love and fulfilment go amiss.

DO NOT MISS THIS RUN! The production was originally mounted at the Old VIc Theatre in London but had closed just before my trip there in January. I am so please I was able to see it while here in NYC. The laughter was non stop but as important was the humanity of the characters that showed how important love is in our life to truly be alive.

The design for the trilogy was wonderful especially the diorama that served as an act curtain for the arena stage designed by Michael Yeargan and the clock effect created by the lighting designer Brian MacDevitt . The staging was innovative and fun, a tremendous job by Matthew Warchus and company.

Between the afternoon production and the final show, I had dinner with another successful alumni from Bradley University Theatre, John Scacchetti. John has recently competed his second Broadway production, performing in Gypsy with Patti Lupone - a production I was able to see on my last trip to NYC. One of the great perks of being a professor is seeing Alumni of your programs achieve their dreams.

Great dinner, great company, and a great show (and no rain) - You can't ask for a better day.

June 12 - Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Tonight after the workshop I ran uptown and had dinner with one of my former students, Laura Miller, who is just beginning her career as an actress here in NYC. Laura is quite a talent and has the right attitude to succeed here. She has just finished her first year in the city: she has steady work, is auditioning well and being called back, and is making the right contacts. I know I'll soon be coming back to the city to see her on Broadway, as I have with other students of mine.



After dinner with Laura, I walked over to the Belasco Theater to see one of the final performances of Joe Turner's Come and Gone. A tremendous show. One of the best works of August Wilson. As he writes in the introduction to the work:

"It is August in Pittsburgh, 1911.... From the deep and the near South the sons and daughters of newly freed African slaves wander into the city. Isolated, cut off from memory.... They arrive carrying Bibles and guitars, their pockets lined with dust and fresh hope, marked men and women seeking to scrape from the narrow, crooked cobbles and the fiery blasts of the coke furnace a way of bludgeoning and shaping the malleable parts of themselves into a new identity as free men of definite and sincere worth."

I had a bad seat for this performance, all the way over House Left, which cut off a significant portion of the stage, but it was still a wonderful show. A strong and powerful cast, extremely well staged by Bartlett Sher, the show was a truly moving experience and a fitting tribute to one of America's greatest playwrights.

June 12

Today was a very busy day on many fronts. We began by exploring live video input into Isadora. This is an area that I have had a lot of experience in working with the DVTS on the telematic productions we have developed at Bradley and with our collaborators. Isadora is now able to support 4 video feeds (THANK YOU MARK!) which makes the program much more robust. After we initiated the feeds we spend the morning exploring all the various effects you can generate using the video filters integrated into the program.

I am grateful to Mark and Dawn for adjusting the daily schedule by working on Video during the morning session as I had an appointment with Lauren Doll scheduled for the late morning. Lauren is a Broadway producer and the head of New Time Productions. She is currently producing this season's Tony Award-winning production of The Norman Conquests. Lauren had work with a great friend of Bradley University Theatre, Ben Mordecai, who produced August WIlson's work on Broadway. When Ben passed away in 2005, Lauren stepped in to produce Wilson's last work Radio Golf. Having met as college roommates, Ben was a close friend of my Dean, Jeff Huberman, and had been an Iben Lecturer at Bradley many times. My visit with Lauren was to discuss ways that we could fill the void of Ben's death and make new connections for our students interested in Producing and coming to NYC. It was a wonderful meeting full of possibilities. I thank Lauren for her time and look forward to continued conversations.

Back at the workshop, the afternoon was filled with exploring interactivity using a Wiimote, the hand controller for the Nintendo Wii gaming platform.

The Wiimote is a sophisticated device that has several accelerometers that sense the movement of the device and trasmit those patterns to a receiver either by inferred or bluetooth. From the diagram below you can see the physical actions the device can measure.



In this way, the Wiimote can serve as a Continuous Controllers when interfaced with Isadora, Additionally, each button can serve as a trigger.

To create the interface between the device and Isadora we used a third party program called OSCualtor. OSCulator is a software program based on the OSC protocol that links various controllers (Nintendo Wiimote or iPhone) to music and video software (Isadora, SuperCollider, Processing, Max/MSP or the Lemur multitouch controller.)

You connect the Wiimote to your computer via Bluetooth. Through OSCualtor, you assign each directional attribute and button on the device a specific channel in Isadora. Once that is done, you use an actor called OSC Listener in Isadora as the Continuous Controller to another actor. For example, you can link the Pitch of the Wiimote to the vertical position of a shape and as you move the Wiimote up and down the shape will move up and down. The short Quicktime below demos the the interaction.

June 11 - The Apple Store

Tonight I went to the Apple Store on 5th Ave for a Final Cut Studio Project Tutorial on Green Screens and Chroma Keys. The 30-minute session was lead by Apple Genius Sean and focused on the many keying filters in Final Cut Pro.

Following the session I overdosed on Mac products from the new iPhone to MacPro computers and Apple TV.

We need an Apple Store in Peoria!

June 11

Today was an intensive Isadora day where we focused on Wave and Envelope Generators. We used these to actors to effect variables of other sprites such as color, size, location, etc.

There are really only two types of sensory inputs we can use to interact with media through Isadora – Triggers (On/Off) or Continuous Controllers (Variables).

In Isadora, the primary trigger is an actor called the Keyboard Watcher. Through this actor, you assign a specific key from your computer keyboard to trigger an action. When you hit that key, the action is started - just like the "go" button on a light board.

Continuous Controllers allow for variable inputs that allow for the modifications mentioned above (color, size, location, etc.) In Isadora, we can use the Mouse Watcher, Envelope Generators, Wave Generators, and various external sensors and controllers, such as a Wii controller, to manipulate other actors.

The Wave Generator creates four different waveforms as diagrammed below.



As the waveform intersects with the time line it "automatically" changes the integers that control one of the variables assigned to an actor it is linked to.

The Envelope Generator creates similar effect but it can be triggered to start at a specific point in the event.

Our project for today was to create a self-generating event using just text and simple shapes being manipulated by Wave and Envelope Generators. Below is a video clip of my project.

June 10 - Waiting for Godot

Tonight was my first theatre outing. I went to see Waiting For Godot at the Roundabout Theatre. The production starred Bill Irwin, Nathan Lane, John Goodman and John Glover. I was highly impressed by Bill Irwin as Vladimir. What a tremendous performer. He dominated the stage against Nathan Lane which I though would be impossible. As impressed as I was with Irwin's performance I was all the more disappointed by John Goodman. He brought nothing to the role of Pozzo. The true outstanding performer was John Glover as Lucky. What a versatile and powerful performance. Consistent in character, totally in the moment, it was easy to see why he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.

The adaptation/translation of Beckett's text was interesting. It has been a while since I read it but this approach seemed to focus on religion much more with significant Christian references.

I had great seats. The set by Santo Loquasto was impressive and more representational that I expected. The only problem (besides Goodman's performance) was the subway rumbling constantly in the background.

June 10

After learning about video compression the first part of the morning, we all shifted gears into the left side of our brains and worked on our first project. The parameters of the project focused on creating an interactive piece that explored the interrelationship between the screen of a laptop and a live performer using only video assets. After about four hours of intensive work where we all shot and edited video as well as programmed our event in Isadora, we held a show and tell. Below are two videos from the show and tell. First is Peter von Salis' project. I served as his Live performer in this piece.




The second piece is from Sissel Romme Christensen. She served as he own perfomer.



While these two examples give you a suggestion of the work developed, there were many dynamic pieces presented.

In the discussion following the presentation we discussed the impact of the projects to us both emotionally and intellectually. A common theme that was presented was the monitor as a portal or looking glass to another reality.

June 9

The first day of the workshop. Sixteen participants from around the world (Hong Kong to Switzerland) with a wide range of experiences. We began by focusing on the nature of composition with two exercises: one object oriented and the other combining video assets with a live performer. Through these exercises we established the primary challenge to our work for the next two weeks: The body is analog – it changes – it is flexible – it adapts. Digital assets are fixed - in their raw form they don't change, they are inflexible, they do not adjust to the analog performer. The challenge is in making them work together. How do we get the digital assets to "respond" to the variances of the live performer? We also discussed the aspects of media as it related to live performance: Projection as Environment - creating scenery for the live performer, Projection as Character - the media as an active participant in the scene, Projection as Light - a source of illumination highlighting the performer, an object, or the space itself, Projection as Cinema - where the asset is a scene unto itself with no need of the live performer.

We spent the afternoon exploring Isadora and learned a few attributes that I was unfamiliar with from my previous work. The latest version of the program is also more robust allowing for four video inputs.

We were given our first composition assignment which we will produce tomorrow - Create an interactive piece that explore the interrelationship between the screen of a laptop and a live performer. I worked on a proof of concept for my piece after dinner and tomorrow during the workshop I will create the actual video assets. In an absurdist way, my piece is an absurd salute to Sam Beckett. Hope to post video of it tomorrow.

June 8, 2009

Today was travel day to New York. It was pretty uneventful outside of the delay departing from O'Hare. Arrived at La Guardia about an hour late. Got the keys to my apartment in Soho and settled in. Planning on a quiet night. The workshop begins tomorrow morning at the 3LD Art & Technology Center on Greenwich St. Making plans to see friends, alumni and a few shows while in the city. I have a workshop on Green Screen and FInal Cut Pro at the Apple Store on 5th Ave Thursday Night. Will be able to detail my schedule once I get the schedule from the workshop tomorrow.

The Workshop

Last summer I participated in the two week Genocide And Human Rights Institute at Northern Illinois University as significant prep for developing VOICES - an ambitious international collaboration that will join theatre artists, media artists, and technologists from Bradley University (Peoria, IL, USA) and the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) with other international collaborators to develop, rehearse, and present an original Internet2/Intermedial theatrical work focused on genocide awareness. The institute was a tremendous learning experience that helped to the solidify the form and scope of the project.

This summer I am focusing on technology by attending the Troika Ranch Live-I Workshop on Composition for Media and The Stage.

Troika Ranch is the collaborative vision of artists Mark Coniglio and Dawn Stoppiello, who will be running the workshop. Established in 1994, and based in New York City and Berlin, Germany, Troika Ranch produces live performances, interactive installations, and digital films, all of which combine traditional aspects of these forms with advanced technologies. The artists’ mission in producing this wide range of art experiences is to create artwork that best reflects and engages contemporary society.

The name Troika Ranch refers to Coniglio and Stoppiello’s creative methodology, which involves a hybrid of three artistic disciplines, dance/theater/media (the Troika), in cooperative interaction (the Ranch)

I know of Troika Ranch through the use of Isadora, the main technology used to generate the imagery and sound for Troika Ranch’s current projects. Created by Co-Director Mark Coniglio, Isadora is a graphic programming environment that provides human control over digital media, with special emphasis on real-time manipulation of digital video.

Troika Ranch's Live-I Workshop is an intensive workshop for artists who wish to develop their ability to realize media intensive works for the stage.

The intensive will take place in New York City at the 3LD Art & Technology Center from June 9 - 20, 2009.

Each day, Troika Ranch Artistic Directors Mark Coniglio and Dawn Stoppiello will introduce a new compositional problem revolving around the integration of media and live performance, discuss various strategies and approaches towards the problem, and, send the students off to creatively address that problem through the creation of a short study.

Topics to be covered include:
* Effectively integrating live performers and video imagery on stage
* Using live video/audio feeds to amplify or re-contextualize the performer, and the themes
* Applying notions of film grammar to on-stage imagery
* The use of reactive/interactive systems as an intensifier of liveness
* Considering alternative projection surfaces and/or materials

The trajectory of the exercises is designed so that the outcomes can be woven together into a longer study, which the students will present to the other participants and a small invited public at the workshop's conclusion.

Throughout the workshop, students will be introduced to Isadora® -- the user-friendly, real-time media manipulation tool created by Mark Coniglio. Instead of an exhaustive approach, which might overwhelm those new to such a tool, the focus will be on introducing key features that allow the students to address the compositional problem at hand. In so doing, the students will leave with a basic, solid knowledge of the software that can be put into practice immediately.

Troika Ranch artistic directors Mark Coniglio and Dawn Stoppiello have taught their Live-I Workshop annually in NYC since 1999. The Live-I (Live-Interactive) Workshop is an intensive seminar designed for performance-based artists to explore the use of interactive computer technology in the creation and performance of live artworks. Using technological tools and techniques developed by Troika Ranch over the past 20 years, the participants learn to use their movements and vocalizations to interactively control computer based media, such as sound synthesizers, video playback devices and theatrical lighting in a performance or installation setting.