Friday, September 26, 2014

Pygmalion's Challenge Artist Talk


 New media Artist Brian Leister and landscape designer Becky Heavner, the artists behind Pygmalion's Challenge, ended their week in Nashville at the Parthenon for an Artist talk before their last workshop at Watkins College of Art, Design and Film.  The talk was called "How the Heck Did We Do This?"

Pygmalion's Challenge an installation at the Parthenon is a mobile augmented reality game that encourages movement through the collection of coins and the finding of sculptural markers.  Once you unlock the game you bring characters to life.  You can download the game and even play at home with simple instructions from Bryan Leister's website.



Check out these pictures of the interactive app in action. 




I want to try it out, do you?


Brian Leister and Becky Heavner speaking with reporters and the public near the sculptural markers at the Parthenon.


Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Workshops with Bryan Leister and Becky Heavner, September 18-21 2014



The first workshop of FLEX IT! My Body My Temple are being held 1-5 pm Sept. 18 and 19 in room #403 at Watkins College of Art and Design and Film, is titled "Creating 2D and 3D content for video games". This workshop is most appropriate for artist and designers.

The second workshop, held 1-5 pm Sept. 20 and 21, also in room #403 at Watkins, is titled   "Augmented Reality for All!" This workshop is for the general tech or game audience.

New media artist Bryan Leister, who designed Pygmalion's Challenge for FLEX IT! will lead both workshops.

Click here for more information.
Participation in the workshops is free.
Attendance is limited to 17.  To sign up send an email TODAY titled FLEX IT with your workshop preference.

Sept. 20, 10-11 am at the Parthenon, Becky Heavner will Join Leister for a talk titled, "How the Heck Did We Do This?" The talk is free with museum admission.  No reservation required. 

Leister and Heavner's FLEX IT! project is an app that works in conjunction with sculptural markers embedded in the grounds at Centennial Park.  To play Pygmalion's Challenge, players collect coins using their iPhone or Android by traveling from the markers in the park to the door located on the western side of the Parthenon.  There they get a key which released colorful animated characters form the sculptural markers. 




Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Baking Bread at the Parthenon



If you happened to be at Centennial Park during the first week of September, you may have seen artist Moira Williams walking along the loop with a wagon in tow or operating an adobe oven on the Parthenon lawn. As part of Adrienne Outlaw’s FLEX IT! My Body My Temple, the Brooklyn-based artist created an ongoing, participatory art event that invites visitors to consider what feeds us.





“When I do socially engaged work,” says Williams, “it’s always about the community and supporting the community.” The physical structure of Socrates’ Wagon Sings with Demeter’s Torch was in fact community-made. Williams worked with park visitors to construct an oven and the mini-Parthenon shaped adobe structure surrounding it.

Read more about Moria Williams and her practice here.