Building Interactive Systems for Dance, Music, Installation and Performance Art with Isadora

4-day intensive Isadora workshop with visual artist, performer & designer Jamie Griffiths

This four day intensive workshop with Jamie Griffiths is a fast-track entry into interactive performance design. Whether you are a visual artist creating museum installations, VJ, DJ, singer, musician, lighting designer, performance artist, choreographer or film-maker, the workshop frees you up from perceived programming limitations and gives you the skills you need to start experimenting with interactive live performance designs using Isadora software to harness the power of simple tools for design and control of your new media and interdisciplinary ideas. Participants use different controllers (Wii controllers, game controllers, iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, etc...) and motion tracking cameras (Kinect camera, webcams, etc...) to build Isadora software patches as they go through the workshop, ending up with standalone performance ‘patches’ to take away with them, that can run in the free demo version of Isadora on either Mac or PC computers. The objective of the workshop is to introduce participants to the use of Isadora software as an interactive performance tool and to guide them towards its use in their own work. No previous programming experience is required. Isadora is graphical programming software that you build up with modules, without needing to learn complex programming languages.

All workshop participants will receive a free temporary full license for Isadora on the first day of the workshop, courtesy of TroikaTronix's Mark Coniglio, creator of Isadora.

Jamie offers 6 months of follow up email consultations for all workshop participants and one-on-one consultation sessions throughout the workshop process.

“[Jamie’s work] is some of the best visual design work I have ever seen done with Isadora”

- Mark Coniglio, Creator of Isadora Software

http://www.troikatronix.com/isadora.html
http://www.jamiegriffiths.com/works/


 

DETAILS //
Date: September 1 - 4, 2011
Time: 10:00 - 18:00 each day
Cost: €250
Location: STEIM, Achtergracht 19, Amsterdam
Number of participants: 15
Reserve a spot online through the registration link above!
Accommodations may be available via STEIM's artist hotel for those traveling from abroad. Please contact knock@steim.nl for availability.
 

WORKSHOP PROGRAM //
The full workshop program is available for download here.

DAY ONE: Introduction to Concepts & Softwares

DAY TWO: Handheld Controllers, Video Processing & Audio Triggers

DAY THREE: Control Panels, Plugins & Interactive Lighting

DAY FOUR: Camera Tracking, Live Text & Participant Presentations

Read a report of Jamie's 3-day Isadora workshop at STEIM in 2009.

WHAT TO BRING / PREPARE //
Each attendee must bring their own Mac or PC laptop. Tower-style desktop computers will also work, but you will need to bring your own monitor. STEIM has a limited number of computers available available upon request. Please contact knock@steim.nl if you would like us to provide you with a computer.

In addition to a computer, we ask that you bring the following:

• A USB thumb drive
• An external monitor adapter that allows you to connect your laptop to a second monitor or video projector
• An external camera (webcam, usb camera, firewire camera, or otherwise) for motion/object tracking
• A functional external microphone on your laptop. If you don't have one please let us know (contact knock@steim.nl)
• Some audio and video clips to work with

Some other useful things to bring if you have them:

• Wii Remote & Nunchuk
• USB or wireless game controllers
• Apple mobile devices such as iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad
• Kinect camera
• Infra-red camera
• Lanbox or Entec box
• Midi controller or small keyboard

STEIM will also provide a number of game controllers and a Kinect camera for you to use during the workshop.

Background knowledge
No previous knowledge of programming or Isadora is assumed for this workshop. The first day will be an introductory course followed by progressively more advanced work on each successive day.

On the first day we will download and install a temporary fully licensed copy of Isadora on your machine. If you wish to start experimenting with Isadora now you can go ahead and download the demo version ahead of time. We can upgrade your demo version to the temporary full license on the first day.

TEACHER //
Jamie Griffiths is a photographer, film director, performer, experimentalist, interactive computer media artist & community gallerist. Innovations in experimental darkroom techniques in the early 1990‘s led her into film-making and then to interactive performance collaborations with dance and music, using custom scripting, interactive softwares, motion capture/trigger techniques & wireless hand controllers. Her latest works have included 3D video-projection collaborations with mathematician & DNA knot specialist, Rob Scharein. Photographic portrait experiments with photo-therapy techniques have seen jamie working over extended periods of time on projects with people living with emotional trauma, hermaphrodism & AIDS/HIV.

Jamie’s own photographic & visual performance works have exhibited and performed internationally since the 1990's.  jamie has worked on collaborative projects in the fields of dance, theatre, opera and music, since 1997.  

Jamie is a researcher in projection technology & adjunct professor (Film & Theatre) at UBC, and teaches workshops on art and interactive technology and visual design at universities and art centres in North America and Europe.

http://www.jamiegriffiths.com/