Ellen Sandor & (Art)N
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multi-dimensional imagery…multi-dimensional ellen sandor (art)n n …3D pixels realized 1982–2006 ellen sandor (art) November 9, 2006 – January 20, 2007 Kemper Room Art Gallery, Paul V. Galvin Library Illinois Institute of Technology 35 West 33rd Street, Chicago, IL 60616 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the numerous individuals, institutions and collaborators over the years for all of their help and sup- port; your contributions enriched the content and technology of PHSColograms for over two decades. For art @ IIT, I’d like to thank Illinois Institute of Technology President Lew Collens, IIT Art Board Chair Judith Carr, Paul V. Galvin Library Dean Christopher Stewart, and Robert J. Krawczyk, Gallery Director and Curator and Associate Professor, College of Architecture, for their support and contributions. I would also like to thank the craftsmen and artisans at Acrylic Design, Gamma Photo Labs, IPP Lithocolor, K&S Photographics, National Graphx and Imaging (National Photo), Rapid Copy & Duplicating Co., Ross Ehlert Photo Labs, and Spectrum Color for their tireless effort and assistance through the years. A special thanks to Bud Lifton for his substantial support in the early years. Special thanks to Michel Ségard and Janine Fron for their contributions to the catalogue. A very special thanks to Chris Kemp for all of his hard work and dedication on the exhibition and the catalogue. With special love and appreciation to Richard, Julie and Penya Sandor; Jack, Elijah and Justine Ludden; Eric, Caleb, and Oscar Taub; Jeffrey Simon; and Rick and Joanne Ferina. Cover Photo Credits Front Cover Ellen Sandor Composite image based on PET Study I: Man Ray/Electricité and PET Study II: Man Ray/Picabia Imitating Balzac (both from 2003). Ellen Sandor, Keith Miller, Janine Fron and Jack Ludden, (art)n; Jim Strommer, Digital Media Group, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA School of Medicine. Each image originally a 30”x40” Digital PHSCologram made with Duratrans, Kodalith, and Plexiglas. (See Exhibition Checklist numbers 13 and 14.) Back Cover Have a Nice Day (2002) Martyl; Ellen Sandor, Keith Miller, Pete Latrofa and Janine Fron, (art)n. 40”x30” Institution Web Sites Digital PHSCologram, Duratrans, Kodalith, Plexiglas. (See Exhibition Checklist number 12.) www.artn.com art.iit.edu Opposite The Other Window: Distortion ‘06 (2006) Catalog design by Michel Ségard Jim Zanzi, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago ; Ellen Sandor, (art)n. Special thanks to Janine Fron and Lisa Stone. n © 2006 Copyright Ellen Sandor and (art) . All rights reserved. 20”x24” Digital PHSCologram, Duratrans, Kodalith, Plexiglas. (See Exhibition Printed in the U.S.A. Checklist number 26.) Table of Contents About Ellen Sandor n Twenty-four Years of Innovation 1 Founding Artist & Director, (art) by Michel Ségard Ellen Sandor is an internationally recognized multi- Multi-dimensional Imagery… 3 media artist and pioneer in digital media. Throughout 3D Pixels Realized* the 1970’s, she created mixed media environments by Robert J. Krawczyk and sculptures, and received an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her passion for pho- The Art of Imaging the Future 5 tography, technology and outsider art inspired her to by Janine Fron invent a new methodology for producing art and a new medium of expression for the digital age. Since the early 1980’s, a large body of work has Exhibition Checklist 14 been produced under Sandor’s direction by the (art)n collective and numerous collaborators, with works Commissions, Collections, Selected in the permanent collection of museums and private Exhibitions, and Gallery Affiliations 23 patrons. She has co-authored papers by invitation for Computers & Graphics, IEEE and other publica- (art)n Contributing Artists and tions and has lectured in Europe, Canada and the Major Collaborators 24 United States. She is a former Collaborator/Associate Professor at the Department of Art and Design at the * This essay contains a technical description of College of Design, Iowa State University, co-founder how PHSColograms are made. of the Sandor Family Collection and a former Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Sandor remains an active member of the Chicago community and is the Chair of the Advisory Board of the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is on the Board of Directors of Ox-Bow, Lawyers for the Creative Arts, and the Board of Governors of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Embarkation, Three Rivers (2006) Michael Dunbar; Ellen Sandor, (art)n. 30”x40” Digital PHSCologram, Duratrans, Kodalith, Plexiglas. (See Exhibition Checklist number 20.) Twenty-four Years of Innovation It has been 24 years since I first saw the work of Ellen Sandor Work on this project (for which I served as an advisor) helped to and her 3D imagery. I had the privilege of writing the first article establish how best to present (art)n’s imagery on the Web. This about this work—a 1983 essay in Nit & Wit, a Chicago art and step helped facilitate a multitude of collaborations in the 1990s culture magazine. At that time Ellen was putting together the col- between (art)n and major artists and institutions including: the laborative group that would evolve into the studio/collective we Cranbrook Institute of Science, Charles Csuri of The Ohio State now know as (art)n. In creating this group, her guiding principle University, Phillipe Paul Froesch, animator Chris Landreth, Thomas was and is, in her words, “Art saves and tough art really saves.” J. McLeisch, Ed Paschke, Picker International, Miroslaw Rogala, An MFA graduate in sculpture of the School of the Art Institute the Scripps Research Institute, and the Shoah Visual History of Chicago, her early work was mostly in neon with strong aes- Foundation (to name only those represented in this exhibition). thetic and philosophical influences from Duchamp and Man Ray. Collaboration between art and technology has a rich, millenia- She also became interested in 3D photography when she and long heritage of innovation, especially in architecture. For example, her graduate advisor Jim Zanzi came across a collection of old the collaborations of Bruce Graham and Fazlur Khan produced 3D postcards. In 1982, Ellen completed a commis- the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower, both sion for an immersive environment for which she ground-breaking in the engineering and aesthetics created a large, 3D postcard using the barrier-strip of tall buildings. Even in (art)n’s early years, Ellen was autostereogram technology. committed to extensive, multidisciplinary collabora- In 1983, Ellen founded (art)n, and starting with tions to produce innovative results. One of my favor- this older, optical technology, she and her team com- ites was PHSCologram 1983, a ten-panel sculptural puterized and refined the 3D imaging process that installation, created when PHSColograms were still Ellen coined the PHSCologram medium. The team produced mechanically by photographing hand- included Stephan Meyers (who became a driving made dioramas. The 22-foot long piece was a col- force in the refinement of digital PHSColograms) laboration with contributions by Jim Zanzi, sculptor and Dan Sandin (one of the original developers of Gary Justis, video artist Mark Resch, sculptor Randy PHSColograms) and Tom DeFanti, both from the Johnson, and photographer Gina Uhlmann. Jerry Electronic Visualization Laboratory of the University August and others contributed additional technical of Illinois at Chicago, This technology, developed Venus at Sunset (1988) support. It integrated sculpture, 3D imagery, video, (See Exhibition Checklist during the height of holography’s popularity, has the number 3.) and sound to an extent not seen before. advantage of accepting input as digitally high-tech as Another significant sculptural collaboration is desired, yet only needing a low-tech output—a back- Townhouse Revisited from 1999. Included in this exhibi- lit, photographic transparency/line-screen laminate, mounted in a tion (Catalog Checklist number 18), the piece was spearheaded by light box containing ordinary fluorescent light bulbs. Ellen and her Thomas J. McLeish with Ellen, Fernando Orellana, Nichole Maury, team now had a medium that had a broad-based audience, was Todd Margolis, Pete Latrofa, and Janine Fron. It was an award win- high art, and was in-line with electronic visualization technologies. ning entry in the 1999 Graham Foundation Townhouse Revisited Now Ellen and (art)n were positioned to take advantage of the competition and was shown at SIGGRAPH the following year— communication technology explosion of the 1990s. In 1992, Janine another innovative use of the technology. The piece addresses Fron officially joined (art)n. As Creative Director, she designed issues of the body, public space and touch in the architecture of (art)n’s first web site that helped develop a broader audience for virtual reality. PHSColograms on the worldwide web. Later, Jack Ludden joined PHSColograms are an enormously flexible medium. They have the group and refined the site’s design and interface. Beginning been used not only to make art, but to make scientific images for in 1992, Jack and Janine were also one of the first in the U.S. 1 to digitize a private art collection (the Sandor Family Collection). Continued on page 9. Ryan’s Hand (2006) Chris Landreth, from the film Ryan, directed by Chris Landreth, produced by Copper Heart Entertainment and the National Film Board of Canada; Ellen Sandor, Chris Kemp, and Janine Fron, (art)n. 24”x20” Digital PHSCologram, Duratrans, Kodalith, Plexiglas. (See Exhibition Checklist number 27.) 2 Multi-dimensional Imagery…3D Pixels Realized The experience of seeing may not be everything it seems. to be seen from a particular angle. Each eye sees a slightly differ- Being led to see what you don’t is one of the roles of the artist.