Library EventEye of the Storm: Using Augmented Reality for Socioecological Grounding

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Wednesday, June 30, 2021 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm

06/30/2021 6:00pm 06/30/2021 8:00pm Eye of the Storm: Using Augmented Reality for Socioecological Grounding

How can augmented artworks act as site-specific interventions, enabling us to reclaim erased narratives and prototype futures in an age of uncertainty? In this workshop facilitated by artist Alice Yuan Zhang, we will explore possibilities and caveats for using augmented reality (AR) technology to engage the public in immersive dialogue about the politics of a place. Zhang will draw from her project Requiem for Lost Plants (2020), an immersive online and site-specific multimedia experience honoring five plant elders across a fraught landscape of urban Los Angeles, where ecological communities have faced drastic disruption since colonization.

Following an initial artist talk and discussion, we will develop a basic understanding of the technical working process and how to get hands-on with creating our own AR work. No prior experience with AR or 3D software is necessary.

For those who are able to, you're encouraged to download either Spark AR or Adobe Aero, and have an image editing software (e.g. Photoshop or GIMP) open alongside during the session. If you're joining from a tablet or not able to access the software, there will also be alternative ways to engage so you can follow along and try the techniques yourself at a later time.

This virtual workshop is free, thanks to generous support from the Iowa Arts Council.

Presented in collaboration:  Public Space One Media Arts Co-op and the Iowa City Public Library

About the artist:

Alice Yuan Zhang 张元 is an artist, educator, and first-generation Chinese-American immigrant living on Tongva, Chumash, Kizh land (Los Angeles). Her practice explores socioecological entanglement through grassroots interactive projects across mixed reality, browsers, networks, and other digital spaces, as well as somatic workshops and community exchanges. Zhang co-founded virtual care lab, an open experiment in remote togetherness and mutual governance. She is also a 2020-21 CultureHub resident artist, involved member of NAVEL Los Angeles, and adjunct professor of media design at Sarah Lawrence College. 

Iowa City Public Library Iowa City Public Library America/Chicago public

Zoom event

Registration is closed.

How can augmented artworks act as site-specific interventions, enabling us to reclaim erased narratives and prototype futures in an age of uncertainty? In this workshop facilitated by artist Alice Yuan Zhang, we will explore possibilities and caveats for using augmented reality (AR) technology to engage the public in immersive dialogue about the politics of a place. Zhang will draw from her project Requiem for Lost Plants (2020), an immersive online and site-specific multimedia experience honoring five plant elders across a fraught landscape of urban Los Angeles, where ecological communities have faced drastic disruption since colonization.

Following an initial artist talk and discussion, we will develop a basic understanding of the technical working process and how to get hands-on with creating our own AR work. No prior experience with AR or 3D software is necessary.

For those who are able to, you're encouraged to download either Spark AR or Adobe Aero, and have an image editing software (e.g. Photoshop or GIMP) open alongside during the session. If you're joining from a tablet or not able to access the software, there will also be alternative ways to engage so you can follow along and try the techniques yourself at a later time.

This virtual workshop is free, thanks to generous support from the Iowa Arts Council.

Presented in collaboration:  Public Space One Media Arts Co-op and the Iowa City Public Library

About the artist:

Alice Yuan Zhang 张元 is an artist, educator, and first-generation Chinese-American immigrant living on Tongva, Chumash, Kizh land (Los Angeles). Her practice explores socioecological entanglement through grassroots interactive projects across mixed reality, browsers, networks, and other digital spaces, as well as somatic workshops and community exchanges. Zhang co-founded virtual care lab, an open experiment in remote togetherness and mutual governance. She is also a 2020-21 CultureHub resident artist, involved member of NAVEL Los Angeles, and adjunct professor of media design at Sarah Lawrence College. 

If you need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this event, please contact the Library.

This event is open to the public.

Cosponsor

Cosponsor Organization: Public Space One

Cosponsor Phone: 319-855-1985