Looking Outwards 8 – Simin Li

James George was the first artist in residence at Microsoft Research in Seattle and had a background as a computer scientist. He describes himself as an artist and makes software that documents the world in unconventional ways. He and two others founded Specular studios and aims to apply design to emerging technology. Exquisite City was a project done in April 2015 that documented places using photography and built a 3D model of an imaginary city by putting these “building blocks” together. This project was inspired by Exquisite Corpses, surrealist drawings of people made by multiple artists. Some of his other works include Clouds, an interactive installation done by openFrameworks and Specular Portraits that changes the lighting on geometric portraits. What is most interesting about George’s is that he is trying to change from “an artist making things that reflect his vision of the world, to an artist making tools that allow other people to see as they see.” as said by Kevin Slavin. One way that George presented successfully was by playing videos to further explain his description of the project. A lot of art, especially good art is unconventional and the only way to make people understand is showing them.

Here is James George speaking at Eyeo Festival 2015:

Links:

James George Website

James George at the Eyeo Festival

Other works by James George:

Exquisite City

Clouds