urbanscreens.org

News on the USM08 Public Art&Events Program

2008-09-17T12:02:00.005+02:00

Urban Screens Melbourne - Outdoor Program
3-8 October 2008

We have now more details about the public Art&Events Program of USM08 available online. USM08 will showcase creative experiments on urban screens around the topics of today’s communities or water. The program is experimenting with a range of different content suitable for urban screens and is programmed to create a lively event enjoyable for a diverse public audience. It consist of four elemets:

- Multimedia Program
- Film Program
- Joint Broadcasting
- Public Poster Sessions

Public Testscreenings 30.08. - Media Facades Festival

2008-08-24T23:09:00.005+02:00

The Media Facades Festival Berlin 2008 presents:

First public testscreening will happen on the rearprojection facade of the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin on the August 30 2008, starting after dawn. We will present first selected artworks produced in the framework of the Media Facades Festival. The final Urban Screenings will take place from October 18 - November 3 2008 on four media facades in the center of Berlin. 24 meda artists and interaction designer will gain temporary use of the facades and one interactive city terminal ito explore their cultural, political and social roles.

Urban Screens Melbourne 3-8 October 2008

2008-07-08T08:52:00.003+02:00

*Collage of Fed Square's large Urban Screen and the unique design of the plaza

Urban Screens Melbourne 08 (USM08) is the third international conference and exhibition of urban screens, following on from the inaugural conference in Amsterdam in 2005 and Manchester in 2007.

The Mobile Publics conference addresses the themes of art, technology and public space, public broadcasting, strategies for urban regeneration, and cross-cultural public networks in the context of Urban Screens. A dynamic outdoor multimedia public program will take place around Federation Square, a unique place where various media tools have been incorporated into a modern public space. It will demonstrate the wide range of possible content for urban screens, ranging from public discussions, live streaming, film, video and animation programs, VJ sets, and interactive art.

Please follow the new festival blog!

Mediafacades Festival, Berlin 2008

2008-02-22T18:20:00.000+01:00

Myths and Potentials of Media Architectures and Urban Screens
Berlin, October / November 2008

The MEDIAFACADE FESTIVAL BERLIN 2008 builds on the successful international Mediaarchitecture Conference held in London in 2007 and will feature an architecture exhibition, a conference and urban screenings on five media facades. The festival will explore the integration of social media and images into facade structures as communicative element and its effect on urban space. It will be the beginning of a long-term urban screens network with the aim to coordinate a creative program for architectural digital surfaces in Berlin.

This Festival is initiated by Public Art Lab and the International Urban Screens Association, in collaboration with Media Architecture Group, Vienna.

Preparing for Urban Screens Melbourne 2008

2008-02-21T18:25:00.004+01:00

In a showcase of international Urban Screen initiatives, Our Friends Are Electric introduces the concept of urban screens to the Melbourne audience in anticipation for the next Urban Screens Conference 3rd-8th October 2008.

From the subways of Paris to electronic billboards in cities such as Toronto, Berlin and Amsterdam, Our Friends Are Electric is a series of projects created specifically for public screens throughout the world. The series will include a range of video art programs in addition to individual artist initiatives created from collective, worldwide contributions.

This project, curated by Kerrie-Dee Johns and Mirjam Struppek, is presented by Federation Square and the International Urban Screens Association - a network of international collaborators ,officially launched during Urban Screens Melbourne 08.

Manchester Urban Screens Screenings

2007-10-18T15:40:00.000+02:00

Manchester Urban Screens provided an interesting set of 3 differently positioned Urban Screens for public Art screenings for 4 days, October 11.-14. The temporary LED Screen at Urbis, Cathedral Gardens served as creative backdrop for peoples engagement with the screenings like the project "Flag Metamorphoses" and "Circulez Y’A Rien A Voir". "D.I.Y Ballroom" inspired amateur dancers to take over the floor spontaneously as feathers and bow ties were handed out.
"Man with a Movie Camera" is continuously inviting people to send in their own interpretations of the Vertov classic, which are juxtaposed with scenes from the original and was first shown at Manchester Urban Sreens.
"A Wall is a Screen" took the viewer onto a citytour with its mobile projection equipment, stopping at previously unnoticed locations for the screening of localised footage.

More images from Michelle on Flickr

The launch of the Urban Screen at Zuidas

2007-09-08T14:00:00.000+02:00

The Virtual Museum Zuidas and SKOR finally launched the urban screen at Zuidas, Amsterdam on October 5, 2007: CASZUIDAS - MOVING IMAGES IN PUBLIC SPACE is starting with highlights of the programme along with a selection of TheOneMinuteVideos and portraits of people in the Zuidas made by students of the Sandberg Institute will be shown. Every day from 6 a.m. to midnight, CASZuidas will show work from (inter)nationally known artists and promising young talent, curated by Jan Schuijren.

Media Architecture Conference 2007

2007-07-11T00:44:00.000+02:00

I'm currently involved as cocurator in this exciting event

On 11th and 12th September Media Architecture 2007 will take place at Central Saint Martins Innovation in central London. Organised by Media Architecture Group in Vienna, the conference will bring together international speakers from the architecture, planning and media communities for the first time to address the increasing integration of new display technologies for building construction. The huge impact of this development for building design and the urban environment will be explored from both theoretical and practical implementation perspectives by leaders in the field. The conference takes place at the same and is co-organised with PLASA, the international lighting exhibition at Earls Court, London.
Speakers & curators include:
Joachim Sauter, Bart Lootsma, Ludger Hovestadt, Realities United, Andrew Shoben, Kari Jormakka, David Cunningham, Mark Dorrian, Hermann Eisenköck, Patricia Austin, Tim Pritlove, Peter Cornwell, Kathrin Kur, Andreas Rumpfhuber, Oliver Schürer, Mirjam Struppek, Jim Thrower, Gernot Tscherteu

Tag a Tower in Rotterdam

2007-02-07T16:23:00.000+01:00

7.2.-10.2. 2007 The Graffiti Research Lab takes conrol of the KPN Building, one of the permanent media facades, turning the area into the People’s Revolutionary Green Laser Light District, a place to display your uncurated animations and graphics. The back-side of the building is becoming a giant wall you can write on with a BFL (big fucking laser). See also their projection bomb and the BORF riot bike in action.

link by Tijmen Schep

Cardboard beautification of video billboards

2007-01-28T16:24:00.000+01:00

"NYCs True Grafiti Problem" is a new project by the Anti-Advertising Agency with Graffiti Research Lab criticising light and visual pollution by hacking NYs video billboards on the subwayentrance with cardboard. Watch the movie and see also Ji Lee’s Abstractor TV instructions for turning video billboards into a piece of Art.

(still from the movie)

"Touch" - an urban interactive light installation

2007-01-28T15:46:00.000+01:00

Between December and January a new interactive urban project called ‘ touch’ by LAb[au] transformed the dexia Tower in Brussels. Visitors could interact via a specific multi-touch screen with 4500 rgb light on a 145m high skyscraper to choose their color and to generate graphics which are displayed in real-time on the tower. Visitors also could request to snap a picture which they can sent as an electronic greeting card from the station on the bottom of the tower.

Artists: LAb[au] - ® Dexia + LAb[au]
Architects: Philippe Samyn & P., M & J.M. Jaspers - J. Eyers & P.
Lightning engineer: Barbara Hediger

Billboard ban in Sao Paulo against visual pollution

2007-01-28T14:50:00.000+01:00

A callenge against the consumer society, "aiming for a complete change of culture": By a margin 45 to 1 city officials in Sao Paulo, Brazil, have voted to ban all outdoor advertising. From Jan. 1 2007 there will be released as part of the 'clean city' law, against billboards, neon signs and electronic panels.

Urban Screens in feature films

2007-01-11T13:27:00.000+01:00

In the opening sequence of the new movie Children of Men (2006) the glass facades of shopping malls in London in 2027 are coverd with translucend moving images, showing memories of smiling children. Buses are covered with digital adverisement, Head-Up-Displays in ordinary cars. The world has fallen into anarchy due to an infertility defect in the population. No children. No hope. No future. But lots of Screens...

Belarus library gets an LED facade

2006-12-14T21:09:00.000+01:00

The National Library of Belarus in Minsk, is covered by glass panels. During the day all 24 sides sparkle. "Architects Victor Kramarenko and Michael Vinogradov, (... ) wanted to preserve and convey this vision at night. (... ) A total of 4646 color-changing LED fixtures were installed all around the building, effectively creating a monitor with 25x25 meter sides and 62 meters in diameter." (article and image by LEDs Magazine)

Amsterdam arts on the urban video screen at Rembrandt square

2006-12-14T15:11:00.000+01:00

14th Dec. was the opening of the new 114m2 screen at the Rembrandt square in Amsterdam. "Mediamatic will show the square what cultural content the city has to offer. The screen will be inaugurated with a live VJ set by Micha Klein"...

Rembrandtscreen in scaffolding

Projected Weekends in Dublin

2006-11-30T19:27:00.000+01:00

Nov. 6th 2006 to Mar. 7th 2007
The Digital Hub will run a series of outdoor projections from their premises in the Dublin 8. The projections will run for the entire weekend Friday 17:00 - Monday 08:30 and each weekend a new piece will be shown.
- This is an open ended call. There is no deadline for submissions.
- All work of any subject and discipline will be considered.
- sound will not be played on the street.
For further details please contact Elaine
e. exhibit@thedigitalhub.com

"magical mirrors" playing with the urban audience

2006-11-05T10:39:00.000+01:00

Daniel Michelis is currently experimenting with audience participation and reactions to the installation "Magical Mirrors", he is blogging about his observations. "Magical Mirrors" invites the observer in the street to play in front of and with these mirrors at the SAP Facade in Berlin Mitte. Very challenging, it's a tough time for interactions in public space, it got very cold in Berlin these days.

Lots of images on flickr

During the World Soccer Games in summer a WM-Special ran on the installation:

Colour by Numbers - playing with the facade

2006-11-02T14:05:00.000+01:00

Colour by numbers is a 72 meters high light installation at Telefonplan tower in Stockholm, running from October 23 until January 7. By calling a number, +46 (70) 57 57 807 one can control the colours in the windows of the tower by mixing red, green and blue light with the phone. A webcam observes the whole play. (Thanks for the link Christian)

(via we-make-money-not-art)

Poetic interactive L.E.D mesh structures

2006-10-29T13:37:00.000+01:00

The Habitat Hotel is a working scale model of a hotel in Barcelona, by Cloud 9 Architecture . The 'energy mesh' wrapped around it has individual nodes that collect the sun's energy during the day and at night gives off a specific color according to the amount of energy collected. The model's mesh consists of 500 tri-color LEDs controlled by a PIC microprocessor. (via pixelsumo)

Achim Wollscheid's projects redlighthaze and intersite work with a mesh of LED lights covering the facade, recting to the sonic cityscape.

Natalie Bosko's light screens as well cover facades with a reactive LED light net:

Unintended Textmessage Poetry on Digital Signage

2006-10-23T18:27:00.001+02:00

Jonah saw this funny comment on a programable sign in New York. The whole sentence did not fit in, so the beginning of the moral advice "Use of Fake" is missing and thus creating a pretty artistic statement ...

Cell Phone Disco - interacting with LEDs

2006-10-11T17:52:00.000+02:00

Cell Phone Disco is a playful experimental installation made out of flashing cells. They basically consist of one or more LEDs, battery and a sensor that detects electromagnetic (EM) radiation transmitted by an active mobile phone. When the sensor detects EM waves it sets off the LEDs to flash for a couple of seconds. In general the flashing cells are enclosed in a plastic casing on a strap and sold as a fashion accessory for a mobile phone. Fuer die Deutschsprachigen ein Bericht im Spiegel.

thanks Auke!

DingDotz LED fixtures for the facade of an Austrian bank

2006-10-06T23:18:00.000+02:00

More and more media facades are beeing realised using techniques that allow the building's occupants to see out and daylight to enter.
At nighttime the whole first floor of the Raiffeisen Bank in Hollabrunn near Vienna becomes a digital LED screen running the bank's branding and promotions, or any other effect or animation. A light sensor turns the system on and off automatically, according to light levels. LEDs magazine describes the detailed construction and technique.

Who is the Architect of this media facade?

2006-10-05T23:46:00.000+02:00

Timo Arnall came across this facade installation in the centre of Taipei, Taiwan and posted it on Flickr. He sais he really liked that the images stayed the same for very long: they weren't flashing or calling attention. The tree and the face image stayed the same for a whole day....
Does anybody know who the architect is?

Refections about curating time-based art on a video billboard

2006-10-05T21:47:00.000+02:00

Michelle Kasprzak writes about her experience curating Transmedia :29:59, the year-long programme of time-based art shown on a video billboard in Dundas Square in Toronto. 1 year, every month 2 artists shown in the 29th and 59th minute of every hour.

Reactive Gap House - LED lightening for narrow building gaps

2006-10-05T17:18:00.000+02:00

From 10. Sept. to 19. Nov. at the 10th Venice Biennial for Architecture, ART+COM and architects Hoyer, Schindele, Hirschmueller und Partner will present the Reactive Gap House.

This architectural and media concept study meets the challenge of narrow building gaps overcoming the lighting problem by using illuminated ceilings – LEDs behind opaque glass. Connected to a sensory system, the ceilings react to movement below them. Inhabitants can also control the lighting in accordance to their moods.