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Art(n) Laboratory with Alan Cruz and Electronic Visualization - Divided We Speak - PHScologram 1997

(The art of our times will not only exist as singular objects authored by singular artists; it is evolving as a rich collection of ideas, produced with multiple media by multiple authors, and even in multiple locations at different moments in time. The greatest rewards in producing art under these conditions is creating a shared language for embedding meaning into the unknown outcome of each experimentation.

Successful collaborations inspire a communal spirit that enables a lively exchange of ideas. Every new project presents unique opportunities to take risks and experience encounters with how people relate to one another to construct creative environments that are receptive to common goals. The goals of a collaborative effort are not always fixed from the beginning of a project or the seed of an idea. The more diverse a particular team is, the greater room for discussion, improvisation, and innovative approaches that can give birth to revolutionary discoveries that influence how we document our times, delve into the future and celebrate the past.

The PHSCologram term, coined by Ellen Sandor in 1983, is an acronym for photography, holography, sculpture and computer graphics. The PHSCologram process begins in the computer, where models are created using a software application such as Alias Maya. The objects are sculpted as if working with digital clay, and textures are created and applied to the surfaces of these models. Once the scene is complete, it is then rendered to create a series of 64 separate images. The virtual camera pans across the scene, giving each image a slightly different perspective. After rendering, the 64 images are composited into one image using (art)n’s proprietary software. Through this process known as interleaving, columns from each image are rotated and recombined to form the final image. This image is then printed on transparent film and mounted to the reverse side of a piece of Plexiglas, with a barrier screen of alternating clear and black lines mounted to the front. Illuminated in a lightbox, each of the viewer’s eyes see a slightly different perspective and the brain interprets these multiple sequences into a single 3D virtual image.

A selection of (art)n's vintage collaborations in art and science and character animation film stills was installed in the Silicon Graphics Corporate Briefing Center and Visionarium in 1993 and Nihon SGI in Tokyo. (art)n's work is in the permanent collection of The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, International Center of Photography in New York, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, United States Department of State Art in Embassies Program in Zimbabwe and Germany, Museum of Jewish Heritage NYC, Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, The Smithsonian Institution, Cranbrook Institute of Science and others, including private collections.

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