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Translife: Art and science articulate culture
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CNTV, July 28, 2011
Human breath ripens green tomatoes and awakens a salsa rhythm as psychedelic lights fill the air.
The 3rd International Tri-Annial of New Media Art welcomes people of all ages and interests at the China National Museum of Art in Beijing.
The exhibition called Translife: Media China 2011 helps visitors open their eyes to the science of life through new technologies, while having fun at the same time. Let's join our reporter Julian Waghann for an adventure where no line divides art and science.
There's a lot to see at the Translife exhibition and with little time to see it all, let's head straight to the interior exhibits. One was a strange mirror that expresses its own negative opinion about anyone caught in its reflection.
There were glowing bottles riding on ferries wheels, and lemons that work in a sort-of co-op electric grid. They actually produce enough energy to churn out poems on a printer. All this was just the beginning of my exceptional encounters.
One installation caught my eye, or rather I caught her eye.
If you want to get a feel of what a film-set is like, this is next to the best thing. You're cuddled by a 360 degree tracking crane shot. The lighting is always perfect. And after a few seconds of post-production and director's cut, your image is projected onto a panoramic screen on the wall for all your friends and fans to see. It's almost like an IMAX experience for those of us who're used to watching things on a computer screen.
People just don't seem to get enough of their fifteen minutes of fame. All this, thanks to a built-in software that compares your face to a database compilation of celebrities features online. And, which celebrity do I look like? I'm flattered.
The focus here is not merely on the new forms of media. But the medium becomes a kaleidoscope through which we see, smell, touch and experience things that we've never experienced before. A way of re-capturing and re-presenting life parallel to us.
What's this? I can't help but wonder what's inside. Let's check it out. I found these tomatoes inside. These tomatoes are still green, but I can help speeding up the ripening process by blowing onto the tomatoes, which adds carbon dioxide and triggers the lights to go brighter and the music more vibrant. Let's dance.
Through new advances in science and technology, media art empowers our senses and redefines our relationship to the ecosystem.
Fan Di'an, director of National Art Museum of China, said, "The media art development in China has been very rapid, but mostly in the area of practical application, for example digital technology. But media art is really a group work between artists and scientists. That's why we have to extend the boundaries of our discourse, and thus go beyond the level of practical application, into a form of cultural articulation."
What are these people queuing for? It turns out they are waiting to get inside a styro-foam tornado machine. It looks even more crazy than it sounds. But people here tell me that once inside, it's a peaceful sanctuary.
Of course, I couldn't leave the exhibit without giving it a try. In meditation, I found myself melting into a world that transcends the boundaries of our senses and of life--into "Translife."
