Looking Outwards 10- Simin Li

 

Nova Jiang is a Chinese artist that builds interactive installations based in Los Angeles. She has a degree in Media Arts from UCLA and has been doing work that makes the audience relate with her artwork in one way or another.

The project Ideogenetic Machine that started in 2001 and is still ongoing generates a 4 page graphic novel in real time based on the photos taken of viewers and previously drawn news events. The artist uses a camera to capture visitors who are eager to pose and use their creativity to make a graphic novel that features them as the protagonist. Then, she uses customized software to make those photos into a line drawing and integrate them into the partially finished story randomly. Finally, the visitor can add dialogue into the text boxes left blank based on their own interpretation. Jiang adds to the database of drawings continuously, converting her views of current events into drawings that are then used to make each customized graphic novel.

What is interesting to me about this project is the importance of the viewer in making the comic. The amount of interactivity surpasses many other interactive installations. Another interesting thing is that the project is always up to date. I admire Jiang for her perseverance in adding drawings of current events into the system and making it a story that matters.

Links

Ideogenetic Machine

Ideogenetic Machine on Vimeo

Ideogenetic Machine on Youtube