February 19th, 2012

On-Line Registration Deadline

February 19-22, 2012

TEI conference Watch Live

February 21st, 2012

Design Challenge Voting Closes

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Art Explorations

The submission deadline for Art Explorations has been extended to November 30th, 4:59 pm PST 2011.

About Art Explorations

The Art Explorations track at TEI 2012 invites interactive artworks that explore the intersections between rich materiality, sensory interaction and digital and computational expression. The work should be tangibly evocative, thought provoking and content rich. Artworks can employ interactivity through digital installations, technology-enriched fashion and textiles, and interactive products and services. Art Explorations welcomes work from a wide range of practitioners in areas such as interaction design, research or art, including submissions from students and independent practitioners.

Submissions should meet the following criteria:

Relevant: The work must have a tangible aspect, in the form of an installation, object or art piece.
Technological: It must involve computational technology in some aspect of its form or function.
Aesthetic: It must have an aesthetic element in form of craftsmanship and communicate its message effectively through form, function and emotion.
Creative: It must be inventive, in its concept, technical architectural or physical form.

Submissions will be selected according to the following criteria:

Concept: Conceptual quality of the work. Is the work new, appropriate, compelling, exciting? Does it provoke or intensify critical reflection? Does the work invent new technical or physical approaches to TEI?
Execution (craft): Is the work well realized? Is it built and executed to a high standard? Will it be suitable to exhibit at the TEI 2012 conference?
Aesthetics: Aesthetic quality of the work. Is the material aesthetically stunning and evocative? Does the work delight the senses? Does it intensify, enchant, amuse or draw on the subtle, visceral qualities of experience?
Provocative: Does the work challenge the status quo of art and design theory and practice.

Submissions will be selected from a panel of expert jurors.

Kinds of Art Explorations can include but are not limited to:

Art installations involving tactile, sonic, kinetic and visually rich exposition
Inventions in robotics, sensing, toys, games and entertainment
Materially or textile enriched interactivity
Architectural prototypes and installations

Submission Instructions

Submissions must NOT be anonymous. The two elements to the submissions are:

A link to a video (hosted on youtube or vimeo) showing the look and feel of the work and highlighting its interactive elements. The video must be no more than 5 minutes in length. If submitting your work is not possible in this format, please contact the chairs for alternative video submission instructions.
A 2-page written description explaining the concept, references and rationale behind the project in ACM SIGCHI abstract landscape format (i.e. the template below). This document must not exceed 10 MB in size.

Word Format Template

Click here to submit your work!

TEI 2012 Jurors

Kristina Andersen does research and storytelling at STEIM (Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music) in Amsterdam. She works with electronics and reclaimed materials to create unusual objects and experiences. She holds a Cand. Arch. [wearable computers], a M.Sc [tangible objects in virtual spaces], and was a research fellow at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea (IT). She is a Founding Research Fellow of the Research Institute in the Converging Arts & Sciences (ICAS) at the University of Greenwich. She has been a mentor at DasArts, a thematic project leader at the Piet Zwart Institute/ MA in Media Design, an honorary visiting design fellow at the University of York and she has designed and hosted countless workshops. She is mentor and senior researcher at the Patchingzone and teaches the combined MA between STEIM and Sonology in Den Haag.

Jim Budd was appointed Chair of the School of Industrial Design at Georgia Tech in the Fall of 2010. He has over 20 years design experience in business and industry with a focus on advanced electronics products and systems for both consumer and business markets prior to commencing his teaching career. Most recently, he was associate professor of industrial and interaction design at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he headed the Wearables and Interactive Products Lab. Professor Budd’s research and teaching interests focus on a human-centered approach to design with a specific interest on the application of sensor-based technologies to enhance the way we interact with the world around us. One of his most recent projects, developed in collaboration with colleagues from Simon Fraser University and Carleton University, “Kurio: A Tangible Interactive Museum Guide”, a fully operational prototype senor-based system, received a Gold Award in the Concept Category in the 2009 IDSA Northwest Design Invitational.

Michael Filimowicz is a multi-disciplinary artist and researcher, and American Midwest transplant, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, working in the areas of experimental video, sound design, interactive installation, internet art, digital photography, creative writing and public art. He is Editor of The Soundtrack academic journal, and Director of the Cinesonika international festival and conference, which disseminates sound design research and artworks. His work has been exhibited internationally in major exhibitions such as SIGGRAPH Art Gallery, the Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show, Pixilerations, IDEAS 9 & 10, Les Instants Video, and Art Currents. He teaches in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University, Surrey Campus.

Barbara Layne is a Professor at Concordia University and the Director of Studio subTela in Montreal. The Studio is focused on the development of intelligent cloth structures for the creation of artistic, performative and functional textiles. Natural materials are woven in alongside LEDs, sensors and wireless systems to create surfaces that are receptive and responsive to external stimuli. In both wearable systems and site related installations, textiles are used to address the social dynamics of fabric and human interaction. Layne has lectured and exhibited internationally, most recently in the Sensual Technologies exhibition at ISEA 2011 in Istanbul, the Kaunas Biennale of Textile in Lithuania (2011), This Pervasive Day in Edinburgh (2010) and Electromode at the Vancouver Olympic Games. The research has been supported with numerous grants including the Canada Council for the Arts, SSHRC, Hexagram, and the Conseil des arts du Quebec.

Lian Loke is an artist and design researcher, with interests in embodied approaches to human-computer interaction and design. Design methods and tools for speculative, user-centred and participatory design form a large part of her research programme. An ongoing strand of research is the development of methods for working with the creative potential of the moving body, drawn from movement improvisation, dance and somatic practices, which can be appropriated by designers. Recent projects include the Thinking Through The Body ensemble (http://thinkingthroughthebody.net, 2008-2009), exploring aesthetic experience, interactive art and somatic bodywork. In 2010 she co-curated the Art of Participatory Design programme, PDC2010 with Dr Lizzie Muller and facilitated the Sydney Lab of the Remnant/Emergency ArtLab project led by Dr Keith Armstrong (QUT), in collaboration with Visiting Fellow Natalie Jeremijenko (NYU). Current projects include Australia Council for the Arts funded research into body-focused interaction and wearable technologies for interactive and participatory art contexts. She holds a Senior Lectureship in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney.

Roc Parés is an Interactive Communication Researcher and Artist. Roc's art experiments have been presented at Centre de Cultura Contempor‡nia de Barcelona (CCCB), Fundaciu Joan Miro (FJM), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (MNCARS), Centro Cultural de Belem, Tate Gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (NMPFT), Centro Cultural de EspaÒa en MÈxico, Brandts Danmarks Mediemuseum, among others. Roc is the Director of the Master in Digital Arts, IDEC/Pompeu Fabra Univeristy, Barcelona. Roc holds his PhD in Audio-visual Communication specializing in Virtual Reality, 2001, Department of Audiovisual Communication, Interactive Communication Area, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and his Degree in Fine Arts, 1992, Sculpture Department, Universitat de Barcelona (UB). Roc is a Researcher of the DigiDoc Group and Professor of Interactive communication and Media Arts: Master in Digital Arts (MAD), the Interdisciplinary master in Cognitive Systems and Interactive Media (CSIM), Pompeu Fabra Univeristy, Barcelona.

Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo is an Interactive Artist/Designer and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Visualization at the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University. Her interdisciplinary, interactive art research focuses on embodied interactions between body, environment and technology exploring interactive installation, responsive environment, mixed reality environment, wearable computing, and organic interface design. She investigates aesthetics of experience in interactive art that can open up a new interdisciplinary research on human experience in the areas of art, education, entertainment, and health sciences. Seo holds her PhD in Interactive Art from School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT), Simon Fraser University, MFA (Computer Art) from School of Visual Arts in New York and MA (Media Art) from Kyung Hee University in Korea.

Patrick Tresset, a French artist/scientist currently based in London, uses what he calls “clumsy robotics” to create autonomous cybernetic entities that are playful projections of the artist. He currently co-directs the Aikon-II project with Prof. Frederic Fol Leymarie at Goldsmiths College, University of London. The Aikon-II project, investigates the observational sketching activity through computational modeling and robotics. Recent exhibitions in the United Kingdom include Kinetica Art Fair, Watermans Art Centre, Tenderpixel Gallery, The Victoria and Albert Museum, and The Science Museum.

Andres Wanner holds an MSc in Physics (University of Basel, Switzerland) and a BA in Visual Communications (Basel School of Design, Switzerland). His field of work is where art and technology intersect, ranging from tangible interactive installations to generative and interactive photography. He likes to tinker, invent and to play. His work has been shown at SIGGRAPH and at other international conferences and festivals. He is on the faculty of the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.

Suzi Webster is a contemporary artist whose work explores technology, being and the body. Interdisciplinary in nature, Webster’s sculptural pieces investigate intersections between object and performance, fashion and computing, the body and its context, public and private, in a critical way. Webster’s work has been exhibited and published internationally in Europe, the United Kingdom, South Africa and North America. Recent exhibitions have included Technothreads, Dublin, Codelive 2010, Vancouver and The Future that Never Was and Altenatuur, Belgium. Webster completed an MFA Media at the Slade in London, UK, and is currently adjunct faculty at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, where she has been instrumental in developing a wearables and interactive products research lab.

Danielle Wilde's research, focused on a poetics of embodied engagement, sits at the nexus of interaction design, art, participatory processes and performance. She has a PhD from Monash, Melbourne (Fine Art) and CSIRO, Australia (Materials Science and Engineering), and an MA (Interaction Design) from the Royal College of Art, London. She is an inaugural Australian Prime Minister’s Australia Award holder, and has undertaken her work in Japan, the UK, Europe, North and South America and Australia. Wilde has a background in circus and performing arts, and a penchant for participation. She also has a history of collaborating with extraordinary people. more: daniellewilde.com

Brigitta Zics is an award winning artist, media philosopher and interaction designer currently based in Culture Lab, Newcastle University, UK. Her main interest is the artistic and philosophical investigation of human experience in technologically enhanced environments and interfaces. Her recent research subjects include experimental data visualisation, bio-signal interaction & affective environments, application of swarm theory, and aesthetic ecologies that facilitate immersive experiences. Her artistic work exhibited and published in journals such as Leonardo (MIT), Journal of Visual Art Practice (Intellect), in books such as New Realities: Being Syncretic book (Springer) and festivals such as Siggraph. She has been selected as one of the best multimedia artists in 2006 (EUROPRIX Top Talent Award) and nominated for an International Media Art Award (ZKM, Karlsruhe) in 2005. Other affiliations include Visiting Fellow at Transtechnology Research, University of Plymouth, panel member of the Leonardo Reviews and Research Advisor in the Doctoral School at the Hungarian University of Fine Art.

Jamie Zigelbaum makes conceptual, interactive, physical, computational stuff. He generally makes these technology-mediated yet fundamentally human things to defamiliarize, metabolize, understand, and communicate our emerging contemporary experience. He is a co-founder of Zigelbaum + Coelho, a co-founder of Industry Lab, and a MIT Media Lab alumni. He has exhibited internationally at venues including the Creators Project, Ars Electronica, the Corcoran Gallery, Design Miami/, and LACMA. He give talks regularly; has published in many dusty, academic tomes; taught a class or two; and won awards including Honorary Mention from Prix Ars Electronica and Designer of the Future from Design Miami/. He lives and works in lovely Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

At the Conference

At the conference, selected Art Explorations will be installed during the demo session. It will be possible to exhibit a poster next to the installation or object.

The written description of accepted submissions will be made available on the ACM digital library. There will be no opportunity to modify submitted material after acceptance. TEI 2012 will also post the videos from accepted submissions on www.youtube.com and link directly to this content from the TEI 2012 site. Copyright will remain with authors.