This September, Slamdance brings its 4th annual DIG (Digital, Interactive & Gaming) showcase to Los Angeles featuring new and unseen works by emerging visual artists and indie game developers from around the world. This special event includes a focus on NASA: The Art of Information, Media Literacy in the Misinformation Age, and Censorship in Interactive Media. From September 13th to 15th the world of DIG comes alive and you’re invited. Follow the link in the image below to view the official line-up as well as info about DIG and Slamdance in general.
Slamdance DIG is the mad science lab of interactive art bringing together undiscovered creators from all walks of life to build a universe around them. It’s like if Meow Wolf fell off a shelf and got glued back together with pieces from Art Basel and a science museum. The following is just a short list of things you can look forward to at this exhibition.
1) Strap a hypno-bucket to your head and control the mind of your partner. 2) Play inside a VR re-creation of Ferris Bueller’s bedroom. 3) Convert your selfie into ‘90s style ASCII art and take home a print. Or let our future-facing Willy Wonkas beam digital candy into your brain over three days in downtown Los Angeles.
Why should you care? Because in a landscape of interactive media that’s driven by technology companies showing off platforms, hardware and headsets, these artists have their boots on the ground using digital tools to express themselves. Here there’s no agenda outside of the connection between creator and audience. Which is something genuinely unique in the wilderness of experimental content. This is the underground evolution of interactive media festivals, which continues to grow in their fourth year. This year the event is spanning two venues in downtown Los Angeles, taking over historic St. Vincent Court and the Ace Hotel.
DIG 2018 works cover a fully immersive array of topics, including life after death, intersectional queer existence, artificial intelligence, anxiety and escapism in a modern world. And then there's the revisiting of a person’s first teenage experience with pornography. Sounds challenging, but then these kind of events are supposed to push the envelop, so no judging until you've seen the exhibits. Opening Night Reception at DTLA Art Walk is Thursday 9/13 with special performance of the 100 Year Plan at 7:30p.
DIG will also a feature a series of panel discussions at the LA Artist's Collective, such as asking, "what does NASA have in common with whiskey distilling"? DIG answers that question by bringing together the storytellers from The Studio at JPL with Bryan Davis from Lost Spirits to explain how they both use interactive experiences to explain their scientific discoveries. Digital Domain, the artists behind Infinity War’s groundbreaking Thanos effects, explains how machine learning will contribute to a coming era of both artistic freedom and unheard of levels of misinformation. More performances. More experiences. More things to challenge what you know about digital art and the people who make it.
Check out the events and see exactly what's going on with DIG. Everything takes place over three days, at the LA Artist Collective at 630 St. Vincent Court, LA, 90014, and The Theatre at Ace Hotel (at 7PM on 9/13 - 9/14) 929 S. Broadway LA, 90015. Thursday, September 13th 5PM - 12AM, Friday, September 14th 5PM - 12AM, and Saturday, September 15th Noon - 12AM. And the best part is that everything is Free and open to the Public.