Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Winter 2002

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Rice: The Next Century Campaign - Through the Sallyport Winter 2002 VOL.58, NO.2 http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~giving/ Rice: The Next Century Campaign, the most significant fundraising effort in the university’s history, is working to make Rice University stronger than ever. To keep you up-to-date about the campaign’s progress and to build momentum toward fulfilling its goals, the Office of Development has launched a comprehensive campaign website that can be accessed through the university’s homepage or by visiting http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~giving/. The website describes the various categories of gifts and specific opportunities for giving. Visitors can make gifts online or contact the Office of Development via the site to request additional information about the campaign. Many of the pages include lists of telephone numbers and links to e-mail addresses of individuals most knowledgeable about particular fundraising projects. The site will be updated monthly to reflect new gifts and progress toward the $500 million goal and will expand to include profiles of campaign donors, scholarship and research grant recipients, and users of new or newly renovated buildings and other “success stories.” [ back to top ] Featured Stories | Through the Sallyport | On the Bookshelf | Who's Who Students | Arts | Scoreboard | Yesteryear | Previous Issues Copyright ©2002 Rice University http://www.rice.edu/sallyport/2002/winter/sallyport/RTNC.html [10/30/2009 11:00:32 AM]
Rice Gallery: One saw; the other saw.- Through the Sallyport Winter 2002 VOL.58, NO.2 Rice Gallery: One saw; the other saw. The fluidity of art, design, and music realized in Rice Gallery’s recent installation, One saw; the other saw., exemplifies the gallery’s interest in commissioning original works that challenge conventional conceptions of the boundaries of visual art. On display from September 21 to October 28, the site-specific piece was created by Los Angelesbased artist Jennifer Steinkamp and electronic music composer Jimmy Johnson. Heralded as a “digital diva” in the heady domain of the techno-savvy, Steinkamp employs the latest in advanced technology to harness light and motion to dazzling and often disturbing effect. She frequently collaborates with Johnson to create engrossing environments that thwart the distinction between the virtual and the real. One saw; the other saw. consisted of a tunnel structure that bisected the gallery, leading visitors from the rear of the space to a translucent screen fitted to the center panel of the gallery’s front glass wall. A stream of colorful, three-dimensional abstract animated images was projected onto the screen by a high-resolution, ultrabright projector perched in the back of the tunnel. Steinkamp designed the animation with high-end software more typically used to create special effects in the movie industry. The continually transforming geometrical forms, projected floor-to-ceiling, suggested an unstable, surreal continuation of the physical tunnel built in the gallery. Rendered in cheerful, candy-store pinks, oranges, blues, and greens, the bouncing abstract forms promised escape into a delectable realm of funhouse whimsy. But this playfulness was apposed with disconcerting undercurrents—a mesmerizing swirl of white bars on the picture plane could be interpreted as threatening barriers to passage or outlet, and the jarring transformations of the images intimated the distressing possibility of the ground shifting and falling away beneath one’s feet. It is not surprising that Steinkamp cherishes it when visitors sometimes experience seasickness and vertigo while viewing her work. The installation’s curious conjunction of menace and caprice was amplified by Johnson’s soundtrack in which eerie, cavernously low tones were punctuated by perky bursts of sound reminiscent of video games. “The soundtrack creates a sonic dimension to the space,” Steinkamp observed. “The physical space is transformed by the audio.” One saw, the other saw. Photo by Robert Wedemeyer Flutter Flutter. Photo by Thomas DuBrock Interactivity was an important aspect of the piece, and visitors in the tunnel became integral parts of the visual movement as their shadows were cast on the screen. Outside the gallery, visitors and passersby could see the crisp silhouettes interrupting the otherwise intensely luminous plane of shifting shapes and colors, drawing them in as unwitting voyeurs. High-tech interactivity also played a role. Steinkamp and Johnson placed motion detectors in the tunnel and in the busy foyer outside that, when activated by visitors and passersby, caused the visual components to alter the tunnel’s apparent perspective and the audio to emit various electronic tones. Many http://www.rice.edu/sallyport/2002/winter/sallyport/onesawtheothersaw.html (1 of 2) [10/30/2009 11:00:34 AM]
Page 1 and 2: Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice Un
Page 3 and 4: Unlike any in Europe Winter 2002 VO
Page 5 and 6: Unlike any in Europe - Beginnings W
Page 7 and 8: September 11 - Out of the Maelstrom
Page 9 and 10: September 11 - Out of the Maelstrom
Page 11 and 12: Campus Reacts to National Tragedy W
Page 13 and 14: Taking the Honors Winter 2002 VOL.5
Page 15 and 16: Taking the Honors have to promote t
Page 17 and 18: Taking the Honors academic life too
Page 19 and 20: Fairy Godmother Winter 2002 VOL.58,
Page 21 and 22: Fairy Godmother Featured Stories |
Page 23 and 24: One Ring to Rule them All my work.
Page 25 and 26: One Ring to Rule them All the way w
Page 27 and 28: Through the Sallyport Sloan Profess
Page 29 and 30: Putin Looks for Stronger U.S.- Russ
Page 31 and 32: Fondren’s Ranking Makes Big Jump
Page 33 and 34: Music Dean Tapped to Lead NEA - Thr
Page 35 and 36: The Ethics of Biotechnology - Throu
Page 37 and 38: Nano Meets H2O - Through the Sallyp
Page 39 and 40: Bio-Cartographers Unite! - Through
Page 41: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~giving/ -
Page 45 and 46: Sloan Professional Master’s Progr
Page 47 and 48: The Eyes Have It - Through the Sall
Page 49 and 50: Language Learning Receives Boost -
Page 51 and 52: Of Bugs and Men - On the Bookshelf
Page 53 and 54: Texas Tidbits - On the Bookshelf Wi
Page 55 and 56: Booknotes - On the Bookshelf Winter
Page 57 and 58: In the News - Who's Who Winter 2002
Page 59 and 60: Closet Full of Hats - Who's Who Win
Page 61 and 62: Welcome Back, Mrs. Rozek - Who's Wh
Page 63 and 64: Welcome Back, Mrs. Rozek - Who's Wh
Page 65 and 66: Segura Secures Schlumberger Fellows
Page 67 and 68: Rice Engineering Team Makes a Splas
Page 69 and 70: Scoreboard Winter 2002 VOL.58, NO.2
Page 71 and 72: Hearts of Champions - Scoreboard
Page 73: Yesteryear Winter 2002 VOL.58, NO.2

Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Winter 2002

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?