Media students ready for space festival in India

Media Lab’s project NORTHERN SHADOWS (ex SHADOW PLAY) is an interactive installation. A yearlong project started from the open call for proposal, continuing via shortlisting to the final The Story of Space 2017 festival and residency period in Goa, India. The event has two parts: students will start collecting the work for the festival during the residency period October 21 to November 21; and the space festival in November 10-19.

“This is a great effort and learning curve to our students. The festival and residency period provide a unique opportunity to learn about and experience space from a number of perspectives, promoting inquiry and exploration”, says Pipsa Asiala, producer and tutor at Aalto University.

NORTHERN SHADOWS is a media art installation that imports Finnish silence into India, the busiest place in the world. It is a spatial symphony for a dark room, glass bowls filled with water, projectors, 3D-models, VR and motion-tracking device Kinect, experimenting the idea of creating ‘artificial shadows’ of the participants. The installation investigates two human centered questions: the aspect of equality, in a sense that ‘we all cast a shadow’; and the philosophical question by Plato asking if we all are just shadows of something real, something ideal, something bigger. The NORTHERN SHADOWS installation is one of a kind in every space. After India Science Center the installation will be build in the new ARTS building VÄRE in Otaniemi campus. The students will also produce a web art work from the event and the working process.

The Story of Space 2017 festival will make artists, designers, scientists, educators and philosophers step outside their worlds and come together to create live experiences, installations, workshops, talks and panels on critical questions around space. There will be about 70 interesting projects presented and evaluated from around the world and India.

Students:
Laura Böök, photography
Bryant Hoban, sound design
Parvati Pillai, visual communication design
Mercedes Said, new media
Eero Tiainen, new media
Gautam Vishwanath, game design

Teachers:
Andres Lucero, interaction design
Zach Dodson, visual communication design
Niko Luoma, photograph, concept development
Rupesh Vyas, visual communication design
Pipsa Asiala, producer, tutor

India Partners:
Akshay Roongta, motivator, co-producer, The Story of Space Org
Jaya Ramchandani, co-director, The Story of Space Org

Read more:
http://www.thestoryof.org/space2017/