Secret Code.

As part of the Cultural Olympiad, Vancouver offers it's Code series of art.  The series takes place in four locations, three in the real world and one in the cyber world.  I have several posts planned from this series starting with these three videos.  A lot of the Code works involve the viewer and that was certainly the case at Code 1. (By the way, you have to wait in line for everything at the Olympics, except for Code1.  This was held in a warehouse well outside the main olympic areas.  There was almost no one there which made for a great break from all the crowds. Or it just may be a sign that I like the stuff that's really boring.)  So here are a few video reviews of the Code 1 artists.

Video one: Condemned Bulbes by Artificiel.

This Canadian group of artists works in new mediums.  In Vancouver, they filled a black room with low hanging, large light bulbs that glowed and buzzed at random times.  Or at least it seemed random at first.  The sound for this show was amazing.  When I first entered the room I was sure the buzzing was a result of the light bulbs lighting.  But as the sounds slowly became more musical, I realized that this was some very careful planning on the part of the artists.






Video two: Akousmaflore by Scenocosme
This French artist group presented an indoor garden of living, sonic plants.  I loved this.  It was really fun and somehow made me feel more connected to the plant world. Maybe the Swiss are right a plants do have rights.  I don't know how they did this, but when you gently touched the leaves of hanging house plants, you heard various jungle-like sounds.  I want my house plants to do this.






Video three: Dune 4.0 by Daan Roosegaarde
This work was shown inside a pitch black, recycled shipping container.  You walked along a path and brushed against things that were like reeds with LEDs on the ends.  The more interaction with the reeds, the more light and sound that were generated.  It was so much fun I did it twice.  And I love this video.  If you listen closely, you can hear Felix run into the wall.