The Mirror

The Mirror is an interactive sculptural piece done by Scott Snibbe in 2001. In the center of the fan is a microphone like object that records the amount of breath blown into it. The data is then transported to the fan and the same about of wind blows back at you. This piece is interesting as it makes you think about possession, realness, and our interdependence with the environment.

Possession is a common thing for many of us here in the states. We all want to photograph places we have been, to collect works of art, and to buy special name brand items. We collect and feel good because they are “ours”. However are they really ours? What becomes of them when we die? Some would say our own breath is ours. This also brings up constructs we develop in our mind around language. Oxygen comes from trees. Breath is really oxygen that is not to be owned by anyone right? Unless you’re in an oxygen bar.

Most of Scott Snibbe’s works have a common loop to them. For example in the Mirror breath is recorded and then blown back. This loop is interesting as it is seen in nature, mathematics, and literature. Is it not true that we all end up circling the same route again and again weather it is in regards to our own art making or even our basic life cycle. Another example of the loop can be seen when your walking in the woods. It is said if you are lost in the woods you will end up walking in a full circle. It’s just what happens so do bring your map/compass if your not up for a loop. Interesting how these loops work!

A quicktime video of a work similar to the mirror can be seen here: http://www.snibbe.com/scott/breath/blowup/video.html

Works Cited

Works Cited


Newspaper
Martin, Christa. "ArtExperience: York School alumnus Scott Snibbe makes you part of his creation." The Herald [Monterey County] 20 Apr. 1009, sec. Arts: 3. Print.

Journal
Simanowski, Roberto. "Scott Snibbe's Deep Walls A Close Reading ." Dichtung Digital 1 (2006): 1. Print.
Snibbe, Scott. Visceral Cinema: Chien. 1st ed. Peru, IL: Telic, 2005. Print.

Book
Snibbe, Scott. Visceral Cinema: Chien. 1st ed. Peru, IL: Telic, 2005. Print.



Websites

http://snibbe.com

http://find.galegroup.com

http://www.snibbeinteractive.com/platforms/socialtable/products/healthchoic

wikpedia.org

The Historical Background of Interactive Art

Some of the earliest forms of interactive art began in the 1920’s (Wikipedia) and can be seen in some of Marcel Duchamp’s work of that time. In the 1960’s interactive art began to flourish as artists of that time wanted to give the viewers the ability to engage in the creativity making. By the 1990’s computer based artworks took up much of the interactive art pieces. Also at this time museums began using the interactive tools to educate museum attendees.

What does this say about us as 21st century folks? Does this mean that we now have such a low attention span that all art must be interactive for us to understand or care enough for us to attend to it? I do not believe so. I think what interactive art such as Snibbes says about us in the 21st century is that we are more inclusive and that art is no longer about the artist but rather about the artist and the viewer. This is great as it makes for more dynamic pieces. It also brings up how technology has become a big part of our lives. Many of us can agree that technology can give us much pleasure however it also can produce certain anxieties. Maybe other interactive art pieces in the future will attend to this theme.

Will this type of art lead to a reduction of more traditional, non-interactive art? My opinion to this is no. I think that it will inform non-interactive art in ways we cannot yet imagine. For instance some thought photography would make painting obsolete when in fact it freed up painting to break away from documenting how things looked to more loose interpretations.

Deep Walls

Scott Snibbe transforms reality through his interactive art. In a piece called Deep walls viewer’s shadows are recorded and then played back onto a screen. When first recorded the shadow is very large however after a small time the image joins 16 other small shadow recordings on the screen. It looks as if it is a cupboard of images. These images are played back over and over. Eventually when a new recording is made the oldest recording gets bumped out. Snibbe’s website states that “By collecting the viewers’ own shadows, the piece reveals how individual objects gain in symbolic meaning, while losing literal meaning, through organization, repetition and display.”

Deep walls relies on viewer’s participation to be successful. Once viewers become aware that they are being recorded they often will think of creative ways to record themselves. This piece is interesting as the creative ideas they get are also often built from ideas generated by viewing the prior recordings. So in a way it builds upon itself. This creativity on the viewer’s part could possibly also be fueled by the element of surprise that they are being recorded and the excitement that comes from it.

Snibbe State’s “One of the most fundamental Buddhist ideas is that everything is interdependent. In reality, everything that we have and are, physically and materially, comes from someone else… That’s why I went into interactivity to begin with. To make something interactive, you emphasize the artwork or the experience. You can’t experience (my artwork) without the viewer. The viewer is as much a piece of the art as the program and the graphics. It makes it really clear that every single perceptual experience is a transaction between the perceiver and the object, and that different people see things in a different way.” (The Herald, Monterey County, C. Martin)

Snibbe’s website states that the pieces title is in reference to “architect Christopher Alexander’s “Pattern Language”. His admonition to architects is to build the walls of homes thick, so that cabinets, drawers and windows can perforate the interior space, providing areas to store, display, slice through and ultimately provide more meaning within the home.” (Snibbe.com)

The walls of this piece certainly have been carved in a way to allow others to occupy it and thus make it more meaningful.

The piece can be viewed here:
http://snibbe.com/scott/mosaics/deep%20walls/video.html

Outline

1. About Scott Snibbe (Bio)

a. Influences – films of surrealist Jam Svankmajer, and James Turrell. The deep walls piece creates “a projected cabinet of cinematic memories” not on the aesthetic level but on the level of interaction.

2. Deep Walls (about)

a. What comes to mind when we think about the title “Deep Walls”
b. A bulletin board (craigslist),
c. The saying “if these walls could talk”

D. A work of time: How remembering turns into forgetting (each new silhouette makes old one die). Out of sight out of mind. This can be compared to societies that elect corrupt politicians because the citizens "forget" about the corruption and give into propaganda.

E. His work has a common theme of beginnings and endings. This is similar to the loop, or life cycle. This brings up the universal theme of Permanence Vs. impermanence.

In “Deep Walls” when the individual decides to participate his shadow is huge. So right away they experience proximity, however moments later that participants shadow becomes small and blends in with the other shadows. This reminds us of ancestors, American idle participants, and reality t.v. (small moments of fame).

F. Interaction: Theme of dependence and interdependence we are inspired by other shadow recordings we see and make new ones based on what we have been exposed to.

This gives all who view it a choice. They can get involved or stay behind. This can be paralleled to people in society today who don’t get involved in politics or even the bystander effect when others need help. theme of Close proximity and Distance (decay over time) joining & isolation.

James Turrel

"James Turrell was born in Los Angeles in 1943. Turrell’s work involves explorations in light and space that speak to viewers without words, impacting the eye, body, and mind with the force of a spiritual awakening. “I want to create an atmosphere that can be consciously plumbed with seeing,” says the artist, “like the wordless thought that comes from looking in a fire.” Informed by his studies in perceptual psychology and optical illusions, Turrell’s work allows us to see ourselves “seeing.” Whether harnessing the light at sunset or transforming the glow of a television set into a fluctuating portal, Turrell’s art places viewers in a realm of pure experience. Turrell lives in Arizona."

The above was taken from the Art 21 website

Scott Snibbe

Snibbe was born in 1969 in New York City. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Fine Art, and a Master’s in Computer Science from Brown University. Snibbe studied experimental animation at the Rhode Island School of Design and his films have been widely shown internationally

Touching, breathing, and moving, are all actions that participants in Scott Snibbe’s artworks will most likely get to do. Scott Snibbe’s medium of computer made images is very much an interactive one that is dependent on viewers participation. Because of this I would characterize his medium as multimedia art.

His work also engages us to think about our bodies and social relationships. In his artists statement he says that the “viewers are essential to the existence of art. Engaging in art can be great as it makes other’s of less advantaged places able to experience something.” Overall it is good for the community.

What drew me into Scotts work is that he incorporates technology with real graspable human interactions. I also like the minimalist images he projects. People are striped down to shadow like figures. Parts of the shadows are because he himself is a minimalist. Another reason has to do with state laws that don’t allow the reproduction of a child’s image without consent.

His computer images skip from frame to frame in a very particular way so the feeling or experience is portrayed accurately. He is a computer genius when it comes to writing codes for special computer programs. He also has his own business where he sells interactive learning tools to museums.

Snibbe was influenced by filmmaker Len Lye, a surrealist filmmaker, who often would scratch into or paint onto his film. He was also influenced by Robert Irwin and James Turrell, both artists who explore how subtle changes in an environment, can make deep impressions on the viewer.