10 Must-Experience Interactive Art Installations at Moogfest 2016

via Moogfest

"10 Must-Experience Interactive Art Installations at Moogfest 2016

New commissions + site-specific collaborations from artists such as
Yuri Suzuki, Kyle McDonald, and Floating Point Collective
showcase synthesis of music, art, + technology

Durham, North Carolina (May 5, 2016) - The public will experience the synthesis of technology, art, and music like never before at Moogfest 2016, where an extraordinary array of interactive art installations and immersive sonic environments will be exhibited for free at venues across Durham.

For the four-day festival exploring the future of music, art, and technology, Moogfest will present more than a dozen art installations, many of them new commissions and site-specific collaborations between artists such as Yuri Suzuki, Kyle McDonald, Floating Point Collective, Antenes, and Rangit Bhatnagar, and engineers, musicians, and coders. For the full schedule of Moogfest art installations visit here.

The art experiences are one of the many highlights of Moogfest 2016, which celebrates the legacy of Bob Moog, the visionary engineer who pioneered the analog synthesizer and other technology tools used by artists like Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, and Kraftwerk. The four-day festival from May 19-22 will feature over 250 innovators in music, art, and technology -- from Gary Numan, GZA, Grimes and Laurie Anderson to virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier and transhumanist visionary Dr. Martine Rothblatt. For the first time, Moogfest will take place in Durham, North Carolina, a fast-growing capital of technology, culture and entrepreneurship.

The 10 Must-Experience Art Installations at Moogfest are:

The WiFi Whisperer by Kyle McDonald
Carolina Theatre Alcove 309 W Morgan St

The WiFi Whisperer is an installation by world-renowned media artist Kyle McDonald made possible by McKinney, will “listen” to leaky data from festival-goers’ devices to create stunning data visualizations and ambient soundscapes and melodies.

Global Synth Project by Yuri Suzuki and Moog Music
Power Plant Gallery, 320 Blackwell St

Sound-art artist Yuri Suzuki and Moog Music present 'The Global Synthesizer Project,' an interactive electronic musical instrument installation in the shape of the world map where users can synthesize environmental sounds from around the world. Audio adventurers and sound scouts from around the world populated the custom Moog-designed-and-built synth modules with local sounds from their regions.

RTP’s Convergence by Floating Point Collective
CCB PLAZA 201 Corcoran St

RTP’s Convergence is an interactive installation inviting people to work with each other and the environment to collaboratively create cityscapes made of light. Developed by Floating Point Collective, a field of LED rods forms a volumetric display. Each rod is equipped with a touch sensor. When touched by an attendee, colored light grows from their fingers, creating a light structure that rises into the sky and spreads outward through the other rods. When people are not interacting with the sculpture directly, another layer of interaction is revealed. The light city is affected by real time light data, shifting colored particles and allowing colors to mix in organic ways.

The Exchange: Switchboard Synthesizers by Antenes
The Carrack 111 W Parrish St, Durham

The Exchange Project is an installation of repurposed antique manual telephone switchboards converted into a working modular synthesizer system, enabling the user to embody early telephone operator demoiselles at work; to see and touch audio pathways that networks of voices once travelled. Antenes (Lori Napoleon) will reconstruct a manual telephone exchange office with a new functionality: patchable synth circuits housed in obsolete telephone switchboards. Inspired by how the inventions and uses of early telephony remain in today's instrument design, this project combines audio synthesis, sculpture, hacking and telephony.

Pollinator Synthesizer by Ranjit Bhatnagar
American Tobacco Campus 318 Blackwell St

The Pollinator Synthesizer by interactive and sound artist Ranjit Bhatnagar is a generative soundscape, reacting in real time to the bees inside the Burt’s Bees Observation Hive. Microphones and optical sensors detect bees moving in and out. Capacitive sensors detect presence and movement of the bees. Temperature and humidity sensors track subtle variations in the hive near the queen. All that data is interpreted into a droning ambient bee-inspired soundscape.

THETA: Virtual Reality by Flatsitter
21c Museum Hotel, Gallery 1 111 N. Corcoran St

THETA (Θ) by interdisciplinary artist Flatsitter is a guided meditation virtual reality spa: an experiential installation founded on principles of sensorial decadence and medical relaxation.

PLAY – Sound by IDEO
The Cage 318 Blackwell St

An interactive sound installation featuring a playful interface to manipulate collected synthesized inputs from across the festival—bringing conversations together, synthesizing them as themes and articulating them through sound. The installation is created by leading global design firm IDEO.

Ten Minute Music
21c Museum Hotel, Gallery 3 111 N. Corcoran St

What happens when five folks come together for ten minutes with a wide choice of music-making gadgets? You get a ten minute song. Eban Crawford, aka Senator Jaiz, and Christina Cucurullo ask a few questions to start each project and then guide the participants in the creation of a sixteen-bar loop, the basis for each ten minute song.

The Aloft Hotel Musical Playground
Diamond View Park 318 Blackwell St

The Aloft Hotel Musical Playground is an immersive installation incorporating analog and digital instruments. Anyone can play, loop, record, and share their music.

Celebration of Don Buchla Exhibit
Durham Arts Council Foyer, 120 Morris Street

Don Buchla is an American pioneer in the field of sound synthesis. A contemporary of Bob Moog, Buchla designed and sold Modular synthesizers starting in 1963. Richard Smith, an electronics technician and musician has amassed the world’s most complete collection of electronic instruments ever assembled by designer Don Buchla, comprised of discrete instruments as well as prototypes, historical photographs, brochures and support documentation spanning 1965 to 2005.

To view the full schedule visit: https://moogfest.sched.org/

Tickets for Moogfest 2016 are available for $249 (Festival Pass) and $499 (VIP Pass) at www.moogfest.com.

A limited number of Single Day Passes will go on sale Friday, April 15 starting at 12pm EST
Passes for Thursday, Friday or Saturday are $129
Passes for Sunday are $69

About Moogfest
Moogfest is the synthesis of music, art, and technology. Since 2004, Moogfest has brought together artists, futurist thinkers, inventors, entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, scientists, and musicians. By day, Moogfest is a platform for conversation and experimentation. By night, Moogfest presents cutting-edge music in venues throughout the city. This mind-expanding conference attracts creative and technology enthusiasts for three days of participatory programming in Durham, North Carolina. Performing artists include early pioneers in electronic music, alongside pop and avant-garde experimentalists of today."