HIT Lab artist fellowships launched

Media Release

20 December 2004

HIT Lab artist fellowships launched

The HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury has launched a series of artist fellowships to be offered in conjunction with Converge05 .

Converge 05 (www.converge.co.nz) is an innovative new conference planned to celebrate the creative explosion that occurs at the convergence of art, technology and business. Over 500 of New Zealand's most creative people will attend the conference in Christchurch from May 28 to June 3.

In conjunction with the conference, the HIT Lab NZ is offering artist fellowships that will allow artists to have access to HIT Lab NZ technology, staff and students to create new interactive works for display at Converge05. These new works should capture the theme of convergence in some way.

Selected potential applicants for the Full Fellowships and Content Fellowships are being approached. However, Unit Fellowships are open to any applicant.

Unit Fellows will be able to contribute virtual, 3D works that can be exhibited within an Augmented Reality book and in an online gallery. Tutorials and 3D software will be made available to any interested parties and up to 30 works will be exhibited.

Both Full and Content Fellows will be provided with travel and accommodation funding that will allow them to work alongside HIT Lab NZ staff and students to make their creative vision a reality. All Fellows will also be able to attend a series of workshops over five months (January to May 2005) that will expose them to HIT Lab NZ technology and explore how this technology can be used to create compelling art. The workshops will be as open as possible and the resources will be made available to anyone unable to attend in person.

The HIT Lab NZ (www.hitlabnz.org) is a leading research centre in innovative human computer interfaces. Many of the technologies being developed by the HIT Lab NZ are ideal for use in interactive art pieces. This includes technologies such as large touch screens, computer vision based people tracking, stereo projection and augmented and virtual reality.

The new art pieces created will be shown at the Converge05 conference where the artists will have the opportunity to talk about their work in front of the leading artists, scientists and business people.

Interested artists should send their portfolio/resume and a one to two page description of potential concepts for an interactive art piece on the theme of convergence. Examples of existing technological media can be found at www.hitlabnz.org/index.php?page=projects and www.mindspacesolutions.com/imaginality

ENDS