Created in collaboration with Damian Stewart, LIA’s project Rain (2012) is currently on show as part of the exhibition medien.kunst.sammeln at Kunsthaus Graz. It is a fully self-contained wood+aluminium enclosure to exhibit Lia’s interactive generative software artwork.
Lia would normally use a projector, a computer and a desktop computer mouse on a stand to allow users to interect with her work. As noted by Damian, over the past decade the aesthetics of user interfaces and what audiences/users have come to expect from interactions with software has changed significantly, and artists who work with digital systems are rethinking the ways their works are exhibited and interacted with. Likewise, collectors and museums are becoming more selective in their collecting practises and have a preference for objects which are self-contained and low-maintenance.
To deal with these issues as they relate to her practise, LIA commissioned Damian Stewart to re-imagine how her work could be exhibited. For this exhibition Damian and Lia aimed to create a device which was as slim as possible, a device that could simply be hung on a wall like a painting or a photograph.
Through an intensive design and manufacturing process involving sophisticated CAD/CAM design and CNC machining alongside skilled carpentry and handwork, the duo arrived at a beautiful object resembling a 36cm x 70cm (14″ x 27″) picture frame, with a depth of just 6cm (2.3″).
The piece includes an embedded low-power computer running the Linux operating system, built from the ground up to be maintenance free and self-repairing; a full HD screen to LIA’s specifications; sliders and buttons for interactivity; and all necessary power and support electronics. Power is provided through electrical screw terminals meaning the work can be installed like a light fitting with no external wiring, to further accentuate the picture frame aesthetics.
Powered by openFrameworks on a Pandaboard running Ubuntu.
Cherrywood frame joinery by Johann Wegscheider.
Prints of the artwork are also available for sale from Lia’s website.
The exhibition was curated by: Günther Holler-Schuster, Katrin Bucher Trantow, Katia Huemer
