2nd IFDM Director candidate visit: Dr. Megan Boler

UPDATE:  More info on the second candidate for UNM's IFDM Program follows...

Tuesday May 2nd

12:00 – 1:30
Public Lecture
Place:  GFX Cafe at the ARTS Lab (131 Pine St. in High Performance Computing Bldg. West of University & Central)

Title:
Ironic Citizenship and User-Generated Content: Digital Media, Art and Politics

Abstract:
In this talk Dr. Boler will introduce the range of web-based digital media productions and documentaries she has authored.  She will then detail her recent three-year project on "Rethinking Media, Democracy, and Citizenship," providing examples of user-generated viral videos, blogs, and other web-based productions accompanied by analyses of interviews with these author- producers.  The talk will focus on "ironic citizenship," and the appeal of fake news such as The Daily Show, fan practices, and online productions that engage irony and satire as a mode of expressing artistic and political interventions within the broader political media-scape.


MEGAN BOLER
Biographic Overview

Megan Boler is presently Associate Chair of Theory and Policy Studies, Coordinator of the History and Philosophy Program, and faculty affiliate at University of Toronto's Knowledge Media Design Institute and the Center for the Study of United States. She is a founder of the interdisciplinary Media Education Working Group, a partnership between Center for Media and Culture in Education the National Film Board, Toronto District School Board.

Her work is at the crossroads of digital media, communications and journalism, and media arts. Throughout her career she has developed programs and curriculum in arts, culture, and media, first in her arts-based teaching of the core course Arts and Heritage in a Multicultural Society at the University of California (1989-1993). At the University of Auckland, New Zealand she developed an MA program in Media Education and Culture Technologies; and while at Virginia Tech from 1998-2003, cross-affiliated as faculty of the graduate program in Science and Technology Studies and Interim Director of Women's Studies, she worked with faculty and students across colleges and departments to build an interdisciplinary focus on Media, Education, and Cultural Technologies.  Her work includes multimedia production and arts ranging from iMovie productions and screenings, podcasts to wiki production web-based discussions, electronic portfolios, in short documentary or artistic electronic productions.

Her research program focuses on the motivations of producers of viral
videos, tactical media, and web-based production and circulation of expressions of dissent. She is Principal Investigator of a 2005-2008 SSHRC Research Grant of $131,000 titled "Rethinking Media, Democracy and Citizenship: New Media Practices and Online Digital Dissent After September 11." www.meganboler.net. Her forthcoming book is titled Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times (MIT Press 2008). She is co-editing a special issue of the journal  Electronic Journal of Communication on "Irony and Politics: User-Producers, Parody, and Digital Publics" (forthcoming July 2008).


For questions please contact Diahndra Grill at 277-2286 or dgrill@unm.edu

Tuesday in the UNM Area... and Santa Fe

I've already mentioned James Oliverio's public talk Tuesday afternoon at ARTS Lab (4-5 PM), but there are a few other interesting events not too far away.

HSC Frankenstein Exhibit Runs Through End of May
Exhibit's final lecture 5-6PM April 29

Through the end of May, the UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center is hosting a traveling exhibition called “Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature." The exhibition, originally developed by the National Library of Medicine®, has been on display since March 10 in the Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education on the Health Sciences Center campus. Exhibit hours are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

A lecture series, held as part of the exhibit during the month of April, concludes Tuesday, April 29 with a lecture titled 'Ethics of Neurosystems Engineering' by researchers Rex E. Jung, UNM Department of Neurology; John Phillips, Mind Research Network and Gerry Yonas, Sandia National Laboratories and director of neurosystems engineering, Mind Research Network. It will be held in the Domenici Center rm. 2112 from 5 to 6 p.m.

Local curator of the exhibit, Laura Hall, notes that since its appearance in 1818, the Frankenstein story has been a symbol for public fears about new scientific techniques and research, which often challenge beliefs about what is "natural" and what it means to be human. The exhibition offers a fresh look at what the story can contribute to discussions of social responsibility and ethical scientific research.

Established in 1963, the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center is the only comprehensive health sciences library in New Mexico. It supports the information needs of faculty, students, staff and programs of the HSC and provides health-related information services to community health professionals and the citizens of New Mexico.

For more information, please call 272-6518 or visit: Frankenstein Exhibit.

Also at the Domenici Center on May 1st will be 'MEDICINE AS ART AND SCIENCE,' a lecture by Dr. David Bennahum, UNM Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Family & Community Medicine and Law, and resident scholar at the Institute for Ethics at the UNM Health Sciences Center. It will be held in the Domenici Center Auditorium from 7 to 8:30 p.m, with a reception after. The event is Co-sponsored by the Combined BA/MD Degree Program and the Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy.

It's also the season for final performances and showcases from various groups. Tomorrow (Tuesday) from 6-10PM our Theatre 426 Performance Art Class will have its Final Showcase at Out Ch'yonda (929 4th Street, SW) in Barelas. Their show, "Self, Conscious: arousing the infinite possibilities" is free -- and sure to be good and interesting. contact riti@unm.edu for more details.

Meanhwile, in Santa Fe, the New Mexico Filmmakers Intensive at the College of Santa Fe is having an open house/crew call for this summer's seven productions. They're looking for Cinematographers, Production Designers, Key Grips and Gaffers, Sound Mixers, Boom Operators, Hair & Makeup, Wardrobe, Composers, Production Assistants -- and all other positions. Want more information?
RSVP to NMFI.PRODUCTIONS@gmail.com
and visit their OPEN HOUSE
Tuesday, April 29th 5-9 PM
Stage B, Garson Communications Bldg.
College of Santa Fe.

[Gfx-cafe] Digital Filmmaking course at UNM

Dear ABQ digital-media community,

I would like to tell you about a course in Digital Filmmaking which I will
be teaching in the Spring of 2009. In this course, students from
Engineering and the Arts will work together to make a short CG movie.
The idea is that we will break up the students into teams like they do in
a real production studio, from folks on the engineering side working on
the renderer and the physical simulation to folks on the art side working
on modeling or animation.

To participate in the class you don't necessarily have to be a enrolled in
IF&DM (or even be a student at UNM), but there are some requirements. On
the engineering side, students should have taken at least the ECE/CS 412
Introduction to Computer Graphics course I will be teaching this fall (or
have comparable experience). If you have not taken it and cannot take it
in Fall 2008 then speak to me to see if you can participate in the class.

On the art side, you should have experience in whatever sub-team you want
to be part of. You will need to submit your portfolio that demonstrates
this experience, since we will use them to decide who will get into the
class. In particular, we need folks that can do modeling, animation, and
shader/texture design.

I am attaching a draft of the syllabus to this email. I'm sending out
this email almost a year in advance to give people time to prepare for
the class. For example, I encourage the folks in the arts that want to
take the class to sign up for modeling and animation classes offered at
CNM if they have not taken them already. I will look at portfolios as
soon as I receive them, and I will start discussions immediately with
the more talented students in both art and engineering so that I can
find leaders to guide the various teams. This way, we can have everything
in place by this Fall and perhaps even start on pre-pre-production.

This class is going a lot of work but also a pretty amazing experience. I
have already lined up folks from industry (Sony Imageworks, Pixar, etc)
to serve as mentors and team leaders for the class, and so you will get
the kind of experience film production companies are looking for. After
all, this class is designed to help get you get a foot in the door! At
the end of the two-semester sequence, we will have a high-quality short
film that can be part of your portfolio.

Faculty, please distribute this to students you think might be interested
in participating in such a class.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

-Pradeep Sen

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

IFDM Director Candidate visits

I mentioned last week that candidates for the UNM Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media (IFDM) Directorship are visiting this week and next to talk with faculty, students and give a few public talks. 

Our first just stopped by -- and he'll be speaking here at ARTS Lab tomorrow (Tuesday) from 4-5PM.

Info on the next candidate, Megan Boler, is attached.  She and the next candidate will be speaking at the GFX Cafe speaker series this and next Friday from 12:00 - 1:30 PM Here in the ARTS Lab Garage.

Where are we located?

The ARTS Lab Garage is at 131 Pine St., NE, one block west of University Blvd., and half a block north of Central Ave. Look for the wooden stairs. (You can almost make us out HERE)

Area parking is somewhat limited, though street parking on Copper and Central Avenues is available.

Best wishes,

Eric


--
Eric Renz-Whitmore, Program Coordinator
ARTS Lab
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
505-277-2253
http://artslab.unm.edu

IFDM Director Candidate Event Tuesday

Hi everyone... two quick notes from ARTS Lab...

First, tonight's Portraits of Being show in the space has been canceled. We'll post rescheduling info soon.

Coming Tuesday, we at UNM and ARTS Lab are excited to move into the next phase of UNM's Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media Program (IF&DM) with the first candidate visit for the director's position.

Further information about this and other visits will be posted at the on our events listservs.

Best wishes for a great weekend!

Eric

___

Announcing a Public Lecture:

JAMES OLIVERIO
Candidate for the Director
Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media Program
Tuesday April 29th
4:00 – 5:00
Public Lecture
Place: ARTS Lab Garage (131 Pine St., one block west of University Blvd., and half a block north of Central)

JAMES OLIVERIO
Biographic Overview
James Oliverio is internationally known as a creative artist, educator and producer, and is a frequent keynote speaker and consultant to digital media, industry and education programs. He has served as Director of the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida since January 2001, with full professorships in Digital Media and in Music.
Special recognition includes the Inaugural "Peoria Prize for Creativity" (2005) for producing the globally distributed performing arts collaboration entitled "Hands Across the Ocean" and the "Most Courageous and Creative" Award in the High Bandwidth Challenge at the 2001 global SuperComputing Conference. Oliverio holds five Emmy Awards from the Atlanta chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, along with numerous national grants and commissions. His work in internationally-distributed performing and digital arts has been featured on CNN International and the BBC.
Oliverio's invention of the NetroNome TM has advanced network-based musical performance to a global scale. He has partnered with research institutions around the world to create "In Common Time" (ICT), a series of globally distributed performing arts collaborations. ICT has been featured in specially commissioned real-time events including "Non Divisi" for the Internet2, at the Los Angeles Convention Center for SIGGRAPH 2005, at the 2006 College Music Society National Conference and the 2007 Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology.
In addition to performances of his orchestral scores by ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra and the symphonies of Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Oliverio has produced for and collaborated with Jazz @ Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. He served as Artistic Consultant on a number of projects with Wynton Marsalis, including the Millennial commission of "All Rise", which premiered with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Kurt Masur and enjoyed subsequent performances at the Concertgebouw and with major international ensembles including the London and Los Angeles Philharmonics and the Boston and Chicago Symphonies.
Prior to becoming the Founding Director of the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida, Oliverio served as the Artist in Residence at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and also as Founding Director of AudioLab in the Graphics, Visualization and Usability (GVU) Center in the Georgia Tech College of Computing. Previously he served as Visiting Associate Professor of Music and Director of Music Technology at Georgia State University.

More events for Faculty and students:

Monday April 28th

2:30 – 4:00
Meet with Faculty: College of Fine Arts, Arts & Sciences, Anderson School of Management, School of Engineering
Place: Ceria 365

5:30 – 6:30
Teaching presentation to Cinematic Arts Class
Place: Ceria 365

[Gfx-cafe] GFX Cafe Seminar Friday April 25, 2008

GFX Café Seminar Friday April 25, 2008
12noon, ARTS Lab Black Box Theatre ** Note change of venue **

Food will be served

TITLE:
Image segmentation using random walker algorithm
by Guanyu Wang, Advanced Graphics Lab

ABSTRACT:

I will introduce a method for performing multilabel, interactive
image segmentation. Given a small number of pixels with pre-defined
labels, one can analytically and quickly determine the probability that
a random walker starting at each unlabeled pixel will first reach one of
the pre-labeled pixels.

By assigning each pixel to the label for which the greatest probability
is calculated, a high-quality image segmentation may be obtained.

BIO:
Guanyu Wang is a first-year Masters student in Computer Science at the
University of New Mexico. His academic advisor is Joe Kniss.

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

_______________________________________________
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http://lists.eece.unm.edu/mailman/listinfo/gfx-cafe

Portraits of Being: POSTPONED!

FYI... Portraits of Being has been Postponed... More info when available.

Inspired by artificial life, Portraits of Being is an interactive sound and video installation. This work calls into question three apparent absolutes by asking, "What is alive? What is perception? What is unknowable?" The piece consists of four lifelike portraits constructed with a plethora of media ranging from turkey skin to electronic circuits. When observed, each portrait reacts to the viewer's presence with audio and visual responses that are, themselves, also stimuli directed at the observer. These create an engaging sound and light performance.

WHAT: "Portraits of Being" Honors Thesis Showing
WHERE: The ARTS Lab Garage, 131 Pine St., NE (one block west of University, half a block north of Central)
WHEN: Friday, April 25th 6:00 - 8:00 PM
HOW MUCH: FREE!

Video Game Event, Anime, and Game Industry not to miss May 22-25

Hi everyone...

Jason at NVGA (headquartered here in New Mexico) has taken on an enormous task, trying to bring New Mexico to new prominence in the Video Game playing and making world --our own Rio Grande chapter of the International Game Developers Association will be on hand too.  If you're interested in checking out the reality of video games today --  and how the NVGA is building mentorship and responsible game playing into the mix, please check it out.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jason Montoya <jason_montoya@hotmail.com>

            The NVGA Super Con is just one month away! This is a must attend event! This is a must see. This is one of those events that if you are not here then you are no where. As if you're a fan of video games, anime, or looking to break into the industry then check off Memorial weekend May 22-25 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Did we mention over $10,000 to in cash and prizes to be given away at the event?

            Gamers, Anime fans, and people interested game design should best pay attention to this e-mail as the NVGA Super Con will have it all!

People from around the nation will be attending the NVGA Super Con, they will be here to meet new friends, socialize, get some games for casual fun or participate in a tournament.

Want to participate in a Game Design Workshop and Challenge? Be at the Super Con and try out that challenge and grow in your ability to be involved in the video game industry!

            Think you have played the best in HALO? Guitar Hero? Rock Band? Call of Duty? Tekken? Street Fighter? Those are just to name a few of the games to be at the event. Play for fun and just get some games in casually or test you might in one of the many tournaments.

            This is not just some tournament. This is an event.

This is not just some general movie watching, this is heart thumping Anime with the hottest movies and cosplay.

This is not wishing you could figure out a way to build your skills to one day work in the game industry. This is your solution to take another step in that journey.

            All this is the NVGA Super Con in less then one month away! Make your plans get your friends together because we will see you all at the event!

 

            For times, early registration, list of games, and more information you can visit:

http://www.nvgaonline.com/SuperCon/

---

ON SCREEN III @ ARTS Lab Tomorrow

ARTS Lab is pleased to host the third somewhat annual performance reading of scripts from UNM's screenwriting classes.

Under the direction of screenwriter Matt McDuffie and as part of this year's Words Afire, local actors will perform selections from several short scripts.

WHEN:  7PM, Wednesday, April 23rd

WHERE:  UNM ARTS Lab, 131 Pine St., NW (one block west of University; half a block north of Central)

WHAT:  Screenplay readings

HOW MUCH:  Free

FADE IN: 
INT. ARTS LAB - NIGHT 
A crowd gathers around a semi-circle of actors. 

DEATH AFTER DEATH 
By Paul Porter. 
Death and treason in the deserts of Iraq and New Mexico. 
LOVE BETRAYED 
By Kate Padilla. 
A family tragedy of intimate proportions. 
THE THING INSIDE 
By Mike Smith. 
A mysterious and frightening tale of possession. 
A FISTFUL OF BRAINS 
By Brooks Rudolph. 
The undead invade the Wild West. 
YOU HAD ME AT THUMP 
By Claire Schmeltzer. 
A story of love and traffic. 
LA VIDA CANDI 
By Rick Raab-Faber. 
A true-to-life slice of Nuevo Mexico, as seen on Jay Leno. 
AENEAS IN CARTHAGE 
By Adam Walsh. 
A modern retelling of the doomed affair between passionate lovers. 

Film Diversity Forum this Tuesday (@ NM Office of African American Affairs)

This Tuesday, April 22^nd at 3:15pm The New Mexico Office of African American Affairs will have its 2nd Film Diversity Forum. The Forum will be held at the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs Office (1015 Tijeras NW, Suite 102, Albuquerque 87102). Our guest speaker will be Coral Inza from the Local 480 chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). (http://www.iatselocal480.com/)
 At our 1^st Film Diversity Forum we had over 40 people who were interested in the making sure Black filmmakers above and below the line in New Mexico had the opportunity and tools to get involved in New Mexico's fastest growing industry. At the 1^st forum we were at capacity, so please register NOW. The event is free and limited seating will be available.

 Please confirm your attendance with Hakim Bellamy via phone (505-222-9442) or e-mail (edwardh.bellamy@state.nm.us) by the end of business on Monday, April 21^st.

 PLEASE BE ON TIME AS SEATING IS LIMITED!!!

 PLEASE COME PREPARED TO NETWORK & BRAINSTORM!!!

 Thank you and please tell one at least one person you think should be interested in the film industry, this is not just for actors and actresses, this is for cast, crew, production assistants and caterers.

Google (Street) Map Location Here

(the Street View doesn't extend to this address on Tijeras... but here's the parking lot!)

--
For more information about NM Media-related Events, visit: http://nm-media.blogspot.com/
--

GFX Cafe Seminar Friday April 18: Gradient Diffusion Fields

The cross-pollination between the aviation and media industries in the use of 3D modeling, simulation and advanced graphics work is a big plus for us here in New Mexico.  If you're interested in these topics, GFX Cafe is always good to check out...

GFX Café Seminar Friday April 18, 2008
12noon, ECE 118

Food will be served

TITLE:
Accelerating active contour algorithms with the Gradient Diffusion Field
by Chris Kiser, Advanced Graphics Lab


ABSTRACT:

Active contours were proposed by Kass et al. as a way to represent the
contours of an image.  Although the method is simple, one of its
shortcomings is its inability to converge into concave structures.  The
Gradient Vector Flow (GVF) algorithm was put forth by Xu and Prince to
succesfully address the concave structure problem.  Although there has
been much research into GVF, little has been done to reduce its
computation time, which makes it unsuitable for applications requiring
real-time processing of images. In this paper, we propose a method fora
computing an approximation of the GVF, called the Gradient Diffusion Field
(GDF), which exhibits the same useful properties of the GVF but converges
faster and requires less resources for implementation. Our proposed method
is also more amenable for real-time hardware and we outline a method for
implementing an active contour algorithm in FPGA hardware using the GDF.


BIO:
Chris Kiser received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Nevada Las Vegas in 1990, and the M.S. degree in Electrical
Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1998. He is currently a
Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering at the University of New Mexico.

Chris Kiser has 14 years experience in the field of embedded signal and
image processing systems and currently is employed at Boeing-SVS in
Albuquerque, NM where he develops image processing and tracking algorithms
for use in high energy laser systems.

[Gfx-cafe] GFX Cafe Seminar Friday April 18, 2008

GFX Café Seminar Friday April 18, 2008
12noon, ECE 118

Food will be served

TITLE:
Accelerating active contour algorithms with the Gradient Diffusion Field
by Chris Kiser, Advanced Graphics Lab

ABSTRACT:

Active contours were proposed by Kass et al. as a way to represent the
contours of an image. Although the method is simple, one of its
shortcomings is its inability to converge into concave structures. The
Gradient Vector Flow (GVF) algorithm was put forth by Xu and Prince to
succesfully address the concave structure problem. Although there has
been much research into GVF, little has been done to reduce its
computation time, which makes it unsuitable for applications requiring
real-time processing of images. In this paper, we propose a method fora
computing an approximation of the GVF, called the Gradient Diffusion Field
(GDF), which exhibits the same useful properties of the GVF but converges
faster and requires less resources for implementation. Our proposed method
is also more amenable for real-time hardware and we outline a method for
implementing an active contour algorithm in FPGA hardware using the GDF.

BIO:
Chris Kiser received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Nevada Las Vegas in 1990, and the M.S. degree in Electrical
Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1998. He is currently a
Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering at the University of New Mexico.

Chris Kiser has 14 years experience in the field of embedded signal and
image processing systems and currently is employed at Boeing-SVS in
Albuquerque, NM where he develops image processing and tracking algorithms
for use in high energy laser systems.

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

_______________________________________________
gfx-cafe mailing list
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http://lists.eece.unm.edu/mailman/listinfo/gfx-cafe

Google ALERT: I/O dates next month -- a few free passes available!

I'm a big fan of Google... or at least learning how they do things.  More info at the Programmable Web Website -- including possible free passes!

Hardly a week goes by these days without an API or other developer-related announcement from Google. And given that they now have over 35 different APIs as well as whole platforms like Android, Google will be hosting their first multi-day developer event next month in San Francisco: Google I/O, May 28-29. Last year they had a successful, one day global Developer Day, and this year's event looks to be a whole lot bigger and broader with 70 sessions covering:

• AJAX & JavaScript: AJAX and JavaScript continue to capture the imagination of web developers. These sessions focus on tools and techniques of client-side code, and how to use them to make serious applications quickly and easily.
• APIs & Tools: Development tools for the web are evolving. Product APIs allow integration and extension of web applications. Tools like the Google Web Toolkit™ provide a whole new way to improve performance and compatibility.
• Social: The web is an inherently social place. A new wave of APIs and frameworks, including OpenSocial, are opening up interesting ways to interact with people through applications.
• Mobile: Mobile devices are blurring the lines between handset developers and web developers, opening up interesting opportunities for applications that span multiple platforms. We'll take a look at how developers can use technologies such as Android™ and Mobile Gears to build applications on the mobile web.
• Maps & Geo: Since the introduction of the Google Maps™ API in 2005, geo and map applications have been one of the most interesting phenomena on the web. These sessions focus on the many aspects of geo applications, from KML to the Google Maps API and more.

More info at: http://blog.programmableweb.com/2008/04/17/google-io-coming-soon-free-passes-now/#comment-146705

Friends of Film, Video and Arts: This Sunday @ Harwood

Jim's energy and commitment have been instrumental in building awareness of energy issues in New Mexico. This looks like a particularly good session of Friends of Film -- this Sunday at the Harwood Arts Center.
...

 Sunday, April 20 at 3pm

Friends of Film, Video and Arts 

will be hosting a meeting  (see below for details) for members who want to get involved

in developing the upcoming "Distribution" and " Administration Snafus" episodes of 

Director's Cut New Mexico.

Member Jim Cochran will be leading the charge, as our executive producer.

Jim has over 30 years of video and television experience, writing/directing and producing award winning programs. 

Jim has lined up experienced FoFVA mentors to help with directing, camera, and producing roles. 

This is FoFVA's annual educational production program, a great reason to join us.  Director's Cut NM production is full of learning, doing, fun and a valuable, quality product as an outcome.

Come and Join FoFVA. 

April/May is membership renewal months for a mere $45. TONS of benefits     

visit www.filmvideoarts.org for benefits and member forms 

And you are welcome as a guest, and experience a pre-production meeting. 

 

Anne Stirling

member/filmmaker

Friends of Film, Video and Arts 

Upcoming Event 

* Sunday April 20  at Harwood Art Center, 1114 Seventh St NW, Albuquerque, NM    505-897-2101   

3pm Social and tour of FoFVA Filmmakers Resource Studio at Harwood

3:30-5:30 program

Director's Cut NM Development Meeting for next episode, led by Jim Cochran

Free for members/ $5-10 donations welcome at the door

stirling@filmvideoarts.org

www.filmvideoarts.org  

Friends of Film, Video and Arts is a non-profit, peer- driven organization 

of independent filmmakers and film lovers working together to make quality films, provide educational opportunities and experience, develop trade relationships, and support a healthy film industry in New Mexico.

Jonson Gallery This Friday: Joseph Mougel and Robert Rainey Opening

We're really excited that we'll be having some of Joseph Mougel and Robert Rainey's work here at ARTS Lab in May (more info to come), but perhaps even more exciting is their full show this Friday at UNM's Jonson Gallery.  More info below...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jonson Gallery <jonsong@unm.edu>
Date: Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Subject: April Events
To: CFA_ADMIN-L@list.unm.edu


Please join us at the Jonson Gallery for the opening reception for Joseph Mougel's In Character and Robert Rainey's His*Story on Friday April 18th from 4 - 6 pm.
 
Joseph Mougel's recent video installation, In Character, incorporates elements of pop culture, communication, and identity.The piece features multiple video monitors, each playing a five to fifteen minute loop of a single character. Each figure epitomizes a unique persona through gestures, clothing, and motion. In filming subjects for the piece, Mougel directs their every emotion, establishing a sense of artificial intent. The isolation of the figures produces a dysjunctured social field that encourages viewers to read a narrative where one does not exist and calls into question the sincerity of human interaction.

In his series His*story, Robert Rainey borrows from the formal vernacular of great historical works of art. Photographing himself along with various male partners, Rainey reenacts famous figurative paintings and sculpture. Initially, upon viewing the series there is an awkward artificiality about the actors' poses. And yet, taken as a whole, the images feel strangely familiar. They are evocative of events taking place in our culture right now. Each seems to draw from the contemporary world of art, politics, entertainment, and specific events, such as the war, and asks the question: are there depictions of human interaction from the history of Western civilization which are in fact timeless?

Attached images are:

-Robert Rainey: Les Demoiselles D'Avignon, Picasso, 2007,

-Joseph Mougel, gesture, 2008, video still from In Character

These shows will run from April 11- May 9, 2008.


The Jonson Gallery is located on the main campus of UNM at 1909 Las Lomas NE, Albuquerque. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and by appointment. It is free and open to the public. Please call 277-4967, email us at jonsong@unm.edu, or visit our website at www.unm.edu/~jonsong for more details. We hope to see you at the Jonson Gallery!

[Gfx-cafe] GFX Cafe Seminar Friday March 11, 2008

GFX Café Seminar Friday April 11, 2008
12noon, ARTS Lab Black Box Theatre ** Note change of venue **

Food will be served

TITLE:
Computational Audiovisual Composition and the Allosphere
by Wesley Smith, UC Santa Barbara

ABSTRACT:

The Allosphere -- a 3 story spherical projection surface located in a
near-anechoic chamber -- is a unique space for interactive and
immersive audiovisual environments. This talk will describe recent
research in audiovisual software for composing works and environments
in the Allosphere. The subject of the software, which we term
Computational Audiovisual Composition, maintains a philosophical
concern with both computational aesthetics and the nature of
audiovisual composition on the computer, addressing the Allosphere's
status as a hybrid scientific and artistic instrument.

Relevant Links:
http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/allosphere/
http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/
http://www.cycling74.com/

BIO:
Wesley Smith is a PhD candidate at UC Santa Barabra's Media Arts and
Technology program where he is a researcher in audiovisual composition
and interactive immersive environments on the Allosphere project. In
addition, Wesley is one of the lead programmer's on Cycling '74's
Jitter software where he works on real-time video and 3D graphics
systems.

This talk is co-organized by the Electronic Arts Advanced Topics course
within the Department of Art & Art History.

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

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Fwd: April 4th - Animation Gathering (@ the Art Center)

From our friend Teri Farley at the Art Center Design College...

Hello Art Center Animators!

Curious as to what The Little Mermaid, The Simpsons, Sesame Street, Beauty and the Beast, Kellog's, General Mills, Toy Story and The Prince of Egypt have in common?

The Answer… Dan Haskett!

Dan Haskett has dedicated the past 30 plus years of his life to working on the animations we have all grown up with. He is an Emmy award winning animator and character designer who has created many consumer products and character style guides for Warner Bros., Disney and NBC Universal, among others.

Friday, April 4th, Dan Haskett will be here in room 220 from 3pm to 5pm to talk about his experiences in the animation industry. This should be a lecture to remember and one you'll not want to miss. Feel free to invite friends and family members. The more the merrier!

When: Friday, April 4th, 3pm to 5pm
Where: Room 220 on the Art Center campus
Who: Dan Haskett
Why: Lots to learn from an experienced professional

I hope to see you all at this Animation Gathering!

Teri

Teresa Farley
Animation Department Chair
The Art Center Design College
www.theartcenter.edu
5000 Marble Ave. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 254-7575
tfarley@theartcenter.edu

[Gfx-cafe] GFX Cafe Seminar Friday April 4, 2008

GFX Café Seminar Friday April 4, 2008
12noon, ARTS Lab Black Box Theatre ** Note change of venue **

Food will be served

TITLE:
Using Visualization for Relevancy Feedback Tuning
of Text Analysis Algorithms
by Patricia Crossno, Sandia National Laboratories

ABSTRACT:
The volume of data contained in textual form is enormous. Automated and
scalable methods are needed to evaluate the contents of document
collections without reading them. The ParaText project at Sandia National
Laboratories is creating a scalable text analysis engine that uses
statistical methods, such as Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), to evaluate
the concepts found within a large corpus of documents. Using LSA to
extract concepts and relationships between documents, the corpus can be
interactively explored through a visual application where documents are
grouped by concept within a landscape metaphor.

As we are developing ParaText, we are using visualization to assess
the impact of various algorithmic choices on the relevancy of documents
returned by queries to the engine (i.e. we are assessing how the document-
concept relationships change with changing parameter values). We have
created a visual analytics tool, LSAView, for presenting statistical
information and correlations. LSAView uses multiple-linked views of
document-similarity graphs and the difference matrices between them to
enable exploration of various configurations. LSAView is a work in
progress, so we are just starting to use it to evaluate questions about
how altering the statistical bias of our matrices impacts selection
retrieval.

BIO:
Patricia Crossno is a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National
Laboratories*. She received her B.S. degree in Computer Science at UNM
in 1982. For the next nine years, she worked for Digital Equipment
Corporation as a software engineer working on projects in image
processing, color compression, and graphics. In 1991, she completed her
M.S. degree in Computer Science at UNM. After finishing her doctorate in
Computer Science at UNM in 1998, she joined the Data Analysis and
Visualization department at Sandia. Her work has included isosurface
generation using particle systems, parallel marching cubes, visual
debugging, tensor visualization, GPU-accelerated volume rendering, and
visualizing temporal attributes using abstract metaphors. Currently she
is working on scalable text analysis and visualization of electrical
circuit simulation results.

*Sandia is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a
Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under
contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

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"Hire Education" AIGA Design Reviews April 25

This... looks like a great event from the people at AIGA and the Art Center Design College. An excellent opportunity to get real professional feedback and tips on Design work with an eye toward getting student designers into professional design careers. 
___


Portfolio Reviews & Breakout Sessions with the Pros
Friday, April 25, 2008 from 9 am to 4 pm
Sponsored by AIGA New Mexico & The Art Center
5000 Marble Ave NE, Albuquerque


Finding the right design position is a tough job. AIGA New Mexico is making it easier for graphic design students throughout the state. We invite you to gather for a tip-filled day specifically addressing the agony and the ecstasy of entering the job market. Our ad hoc faculty of local, professional designers will review your portfolios, providing valuable suggestions to enliven your presentation and identifying your strengths and areas for improvement. In breakout sessions students will discuss specific aspects of the post-graduation job search with professional designers.

Hire Education is open to students majoring in graphic design at colleges throughout New Mexico. We will accept juniors, seniors, and recent graduates with prepared portfolios first. If there is room, we will also welcome students without portfolios who would like to observe the reviews and participate in the breakout sessions.

Our faculty of professional designers represents a wide range of expertise, years in the field, and types of experience in the industry. Some are owners of graphic design firms; some work as junior and senior designers; some are freelancers. They know what they're talking about.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to jumpstart your career. Sign up for Hire Education today.

Cost for the day, including lunch:
Student and faculty AIGA members: $15
Student and faculty non-members: $25

Registration:
Faculty members can register groups of students by emailing students' names and contact information to Karen at karen@baddogdesign.biz
Individual students should register by sending their name and contact information to Karen.
Call Peggy Pfeiffer at 505.986.6146 if you have questions about Hire Education.

AniMotion NM Next Tuesday @ ARTS Lab

AniMotion NM is back at ARTS Lab next Tuesday night with our own Hue Walker talking up fulldome animation. 

As you may have seen over on the MISP List (http://groups.google.com/group/nm-media-industries/browse_thread/thread/ee870079acd5d10), this will be a big year for dome 'stuff'.  Domefest will be happening July 3rd this year in Chicago during the International Planetarium Society's biannual meeting -- which means more people will be seeing Domefest this year than ever before, and we're trying to make sure there will be plenty of work from New Mexico artists for everyone to see. 

(Don't worry, we'll be having a show in New Mexico too.)

Creating work for dome theaters will be the topic of next Tuesday's meeting -- but it might also be a good chance to talk before the Governor's Cup Competition in Animation.

More info to come...

AniMotion NM 

WHEN: Tuesday April 7, from 7pm-8:30pm

WHERE: ARTS Lab, 131 Pine Street NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, just north of Central and one block west of University

DESCRIPTION: Join us for the second meeting of AniMotion NM. AniMotion NM serves as a community for New Mexico animators, motion graphic artists, VFX artists, sound designers, and broadcast designers. Meetings will serve to educate and as a means to network.

More info to come!

Film and Industry Night at Mother Road Theatre Company

Hey everyone...

I haven't posted too much about theater events recently (at least not here), but I wanted to make a special mention of what the Mother Road Theatre Company is doing -- especially since they've got a special Film and Theatre Industry night.  

Mother Road is the group that produced a special event with Alan Arkin last month, and their cast includes several stars who'll be familiar to fans of local film and theater alike.  Hope to see you there this Thursday.

e


Film & Theatre Industry Night!

Mother Road Theatre Company introduces special Half-Price Thursdays!
 
This Thursday, April 3, come see The Odyssey, by David Farr,  8pm
 
Tickets $10 for all people connected to the Film and Theatre community.
Calling all film and theatre actors (union & non-union), directors, above-the-line, below-the-line, designers, technicians, crew, writers, producers, house managers, board members, etc. Bring resume, union card, photo, program, reel, pay stub, clapboard, production photo or some other proof of your connection to the community.

Where:  The Filling Station, 1024 4th St. SW
Reservations:  505-873-4831 or tom@motherroad.org

Mother Road Theatre Company, Albuquerque's dynamic, new professional theatre company located at The Filling Station on historic pre-1937 Route 66 hits "The Open Road" with the launch of its first season and its debut production, The Odyssey, by David Farr directed by Artistic Director, Julia Thudium.

The Odyssey is a modern look the classical epic by Homer:
Wayward Odysseus washes up on a modern foreign shore.  Rather than receiving a hero's welcome he is locked up in a detention center as an illegal immigrant. Trying to convince the officials of his identity while hiding it from the Trojans he displaced after sacking their sacred city, he recounts his adventures and ten-year long attempt to return to his home in Ithaca – from his encounter with the Cyclops through his journey to the Land of the Dead.
This retelling of Homer's Odyssey by British playwright David Farr is both classical and topical. The show will feature live original music composed specifically for this production by Ernest Sturdevant. The cast features leaders in the Albuquerque theatre scene: Jean Effron, William Sterchi, Steve Corona, Kristín de la O, Chris Gonzales, Ray Orley, Bridget Kelly, K'Lynn Childress and Vic Browder as Odysseus.
Additional Dates & Prices:
When:  March 28, 29, 30, April 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20.
Curtain: Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8:00pm, Sunday 2:00pm
Where: The Filling Station, 1024 4th St. SW, located on historic, pre-1937 Route 66.
Tickets:  $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students.
Reservations & Information: 505-873-4831, tom@motherroad.org

 
 http://www.motherroad.org <http://www.motherroad.org/>     http://www.fillingstationabq.com <http://www.fillingstationabq.com/>