Dennis' research blog

Topic: The game of Jason Rohrer Student name: Dennis Luk Student number: 60177050 Jason Rohrer is a computer programmer, writer, musician and game designer from the United States. He is known for his innovative and thought-provoking games. He is a graduate from Cornell University. His games explores themes of human interaction, social dynamics, and the nature of play, encouraging players to engage with complex emotional and philosophical ideas. His games are usually minimalistic while provoking reflection and discussion. Most of his works are published to the public domain for free. I did research of his game ‘Passage’ this week. ‘Passage’ is a 5 minutes game offering a play through in a horizontal landscape as a male character. In this game, player explores a 2D maze while facing the inevitability of the passing of time and aging. In the game, endings are affected by the player’s choices that represents life. Players can try to hunt for maximum treasures or get married which last to t...

Topic: The practice of Yasunao Tone Student name: Dennis Luk Student number: 60177050 Yasunao Tone, born on March 31, 1935, was a pioneering Japanese-American artist and composer known for his influential work in avant-garde music and sound art. When he was in high school, he became interested in Japanese Avant-Grade poetry. Later in 1953, he entered the literature program in Chiba University. He then became part of the Tokyo art scene in the 1960s, as a key member of the experimental collective Group Ongaku and later take part in Fluxus movement. Tone relocated to the United States in 1972. He gained recognition for his innovative techniques, such as manipulating compact discs to create "glitch" music. In his career, Tone highlighted the role of chance and technology in art, leaving an impact on contemporary sound art and music.   In this week’s research, I focused on the work ‘Musica Iconologos’ he made in 1993. This piece showcases Tone's unique methodology, which he t...

Topic: Wafaa Bilal - Domestic Tension Student name: Dennis Luk Student number: 60177050 Waffa Bilal is an Iraqi American Artist. He is renowned for his Interactive Art, New Media Art, Performance Art, etc. He grew up in the most chaotic period of Iraq and the environment has informed his art later on. He wanted to study art in Iraq but was prohibited because of the alleged disloyalty of a member of his family. He was once arrested as a dissident for making art criticizing the Saddam Hussein regime. In 1991, he fled Iraq after refusing to participate in the Invasion of Kuwait. A year later, he travelled to the USA to study art and stayed. One of Waffa’s most known art is Domestic Tension. In this artwork, Wafaa lived in a studio room for 30 days. During these 30 days, he can be seen live on the Internet 24/7. What was special is that audience on the Internet was given the option to shoot Wafaa with a robotically controlled paintball gun. On the website, the control of the paintball ...

Topic: The art of Stephanie Dinkins Student name: Dennis Luk Student number: 60177050 Stephanie Dinkins is a female artist from the New York, United States. She specifies in art about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and she intertwines emerging technologies with her artworks such as sculpture, code installation, etc. She uses her artworks as a powerful tool to voice out for ethnic minorities especially the black and brown communities when it comes to race, gender and power.   Her aim is ‘create a unique culturally attuned AI entity in collaboration with coders, engineers and in close consultation with local communities of color that reflects and is empowered to work toward the goals of its community’. This week, I put effort into researching her artworks ‘Data Trust’ and ‘Secret Garden’. For ‘Data Trust’,  it is an immersive experience featuring real-time AI-generated processing of stories shared in the gallery space, which makes it an experiment in collective memory. After inter...

Research blog post #3 Jeffery Shaw Topic: The art of Jeffery Shaw Student name: Dennis Luk Student number: 60177050 Jeffery Shaw from Melbourne, Australia is a new media artist famous for pioneering the use of digital technologies in criteria such as expanded cinema, interactive art, etc. I am specifically interested in the way he blends these arts with new technologies. In my research, I found out that after leaving Australia in 1965, Shaw relocated in Milan and studied sculpture. He is also the founding member of art groups Artist Placement Group and Eventstructure Research Group. Last but not least, he has also won numerous awards such as the Immagine Elettronica Prize and Oribe Award. In the research, I focused on his artwork Corpocinema. In this artwork, the central feature is an air-inflated PVC dome with a diameter of 700cm and moving films and slides are projected from the outside of the dome. This results In a 3-dimesional volume unlike traditional cinemas. Moreover, different...

Topic: The paintings of Pieter Schoolwerth Student name: Dennis Luk Student number: 60177050 Pieter Schoolwerth is an American artist who is known for blending traditional art with digital art. I am interested in the way of how he blend the two kinds of art that have a huge difference in timeline. With a research, I discovered that he graduated from the California Institute of Art in 1994 and became well known in 2010 for using digital techniques in his work. He is also the founder of his own music label, Wierd Records. In this week’s research, I picked Leave/Remain #1 he made in 2016 to focus on. In this artwork, dynamic overlapping layers and figures are used with a vivid contrast in color (red and blue). This artwork reflected a few qualities of a digital image. According to Pieter Schoolwerth himself, he said that the process that he was using to produce paintings echoes the way that technology produces digital space in the world. For example, the dynamic overlapping layers and fig...