After all of the Super Bowl festivities that took place yesterday, many Americans might never want to hear the word “snack” again. This morning, however, we found ourselves munching on triple ginger cookies, spicy and smoky mixed nuts and baked cheese stamps. The…
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Longtime Washington DC resident Rano Singh, on a mission to prepare traditional Indian meals, became frustrated with the lack of spices available in her town. Even with regular trips to suburban Indian grocery stores, she found that often what greets customers are spices…
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by Michael Kucmeroski Although all of Washington, DC has much to offer in terms of sightseeing and history, there is something enticing about staying in Georgetown. The area around the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C and…
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Celebrating cityscapes with an interactive installation at Washington D.C.’s National Building Museum
Last week design firm Rockwell Group’s interactive team, The Lab, completed their latest project aptly-named Build Up!. The one-night-only install came in the form of a four-sided hanging screen, designed and built for the 25th Anniversary National Building Museum Honor Award Gala in Washington D.C. Using iPad software and projection apps customized with openFramework for the project, the 18′ x 18′ geometric structure displayed animated colorful cityscapes high above the guests at the event.
But the installation was more than just a digitally-enhanced chandelier. Guests were encouraged to interact with the skyline (and one another) by using one of four iPad 2-embedded pedestals to create miniature buildings, forming a virtual metropolis of epic proportions. As guests tap and play using the specialized iPad apps, skyscrapers sprout up in bright hues, creating nearly instant interactive gratification. With the proper amount of feverous construction, the cities really come to life as virtual balloons, blimps, and fireworks erupt to celebrate users’ architectural accomplishments.
The project, as an extended arm of Rockwell’s cross-disciplinarily program, falls in line with The Lab’s aim to “blur the lines between the physical and virtual in all of Rockwell Group’s projects.” Now you know who to call the next time you want to build a city indoors.
by Max Gold
Artist Alexa Meade works in the medium of flesh. The Washington D.C.-based artist, 23, calls her style of portraiture and performance art “Reverse Trompe L’Oeil,” compressing a 3-D space into a 2-D plane by painting directly on models. The resulting photographs of the person within a painted still life makes the illusion complete, an effect that in recent weeks has swept the Internet and landed her in some big name galleries.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that she doesn’t use Photoshop or any other digital editing tools. “Essentially, I am creating art that imitates life on top of life” says Meade, who graduated from Vassar College last year as a Political Science major. “My political past has taught me that what one experiences cannot always be interpreted at face value; seeing is not necessarily believing.”
Of her live installations, Meade says “I am transforming people into art objects. It is not often that an object can return the gaze of the viewer. Many viewers feel uncomfortable making direct eye contact. There are a lot of sideways glances.”
Postmasters Gallery in New York will include the young artist’s work in the “Mirror, Mirror” exhibition opening 2 April 2010. Also, look for her work in the “Art of Giving” show at the Saatchi Gallery in London this October.
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