Inter:Facing
September 9- October 1, 2011
Events @ the Grunwald Gallery of Art
Gallery Talk, Friday, September 9, 6:00pm             
                  
Opening Reception, Friday, September 9, 6:30-8:00pm             
                           
The Grunwald Gallery of Art is pleased to announce Inter:Facing, an interactive art exhibition. The show will open to the public with an opening reception Friday, September 9, 6:00 – 8:00pm and be on view
through Saturday, October 1, 2011. All events are free and open to the public.
 
Inter:Facing is an interactive art exhibition featuring computer-mediated portraiture by digital artist and Indiana University Associate Professor Margaret Dolinsky.   Dolinsky integrates computer graphics with sensors connected to three-dimensional sculptures in order to invent a kind of hybrid reality. In order to give her whimsical characters a metaphorical voice, these sensors encourage a conversation of interaction and play.
Dolinsky says of her work, "There has been a historical tradition in art towards altering perception. My work in virtual reality employs dynamic imagery to heighten awareness, promoting what I call a “perceptual shift” for the visitor. A perceptual shift is the type of cognitive event of having experienced something extra-marginal, on the boundaries of
normal awareness, outside of conditioned attenuation. Perceptual shifts are often provoked by artwork such as trompe l’oeil, Cubism, Cornell boxes, labyrinth gardens, and Brecht’s political theater. These devices for wonderment have a magical quality that requires a specific interaction unique to the particular device and its functions. Once the participant realizes his or her role within that interaction relationship, possibilities open for perceptual shifts and cognitive events. In my own work, I am not attempting to shape emotion in particular, but I do hope to shape perceptual possibilities within immersive environments."
Dolinsky has been working with virtual environments since 1995, creating interactive art experiences that have been exhibited at SIGGRAPH, Ars Electronica, ICC in Tokyo, and the Walker Art Center. She received an MFA from University of Illinois at Chicago. There, she worked with the CAVE virtual reality theater where people stand inside projection walls and navigate a 3D simulation as the graphics hover around them. Dolinsky was commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art to create “Cabinet of Dreams” a VR experience of Chinese antiquities. She has had several exhibits in China, including her piece “Emotable Portraits.” More recently, her work has allowed her to create virtual sets for the American Opera Theater and the IU Jacobs School of Music performances. Dolinsky is a senior research scientist with the Pervasive Technology Institute and Fellow with the Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities at Indiana University in Bloomington.