|
by software artist Scott Draves. You may also follow me on google+ or twitter, buy art, or join me on facebook.
|
As a literal focal point at raves, parties, and clubs, video mixing and composition has become almost as integral a component of the experience as the music itself. Some VJs function like graphic designers, cutting and pasting layers of prefabricated imagery along with the beat, while others act more like scientists creating pixilated cultures that evolve according to the rules of complex algorithms. Count San Francisco VJ and software artist Spot, aka Scott Draves, among the latter. Spot surely looks at the synthesis of art and science as source material for his ornately mutating and highly organic video ecosystems. With Spotworks, his new compilation DVD containing over 87 minutes of video art and commentary, he provides not only mind-blowing hardcore psychedelics, but also a visual theory of evolution applicable to a manufactured artificial life (A-life). "Dub Visuals" brings the resonant world of exoskeletal aesthetics to the screen as if an electron microscope was hardwired to a video projector, while "The Bomb" represents a coded software system that produces, as Draves notes on the DVD, "organic visual music creating a video stream that is fluid, textured and rhythmic." Although much of the heady theory behind these complex pieces may seem more suitable for a doctoral dissertation than a night out, the intricacy and artistry of Draves' work is something that will delight both sets of NASA enthusiasts — those who work for the governmental space organization and the others who reminisce about the legendary New York party. (SM)Posted by spot at April 15, 2004 06:34 PM