www.dancingimage.com
In his work, John Vega is on a quest to find ways of seeing differently from the normal way, which he define as one that expects or demands specific outcomes. The pivotal idea is that our minds produce very dense filters of thought which, if completely eliminated, would allow us to see everything as it actually is: infinite. Vega attempts to remove preconditioned thought from the creative act in two ways: one, by harnessing the complexity and randomness inherent in digital scripts (which, by nature, transcend the limits of human expectation) and two, by interacting with the output of such scripts in a spontaneous, synchronistic way—similar to the way one might toss coins for the I-Ching or snap a photo of a particular instant in time and space. The historical roots of the processes in art lie in DuChamp’s “ready-mades,” the Dadaists’ “exquisite corpse,” and Pollack’s “action-painting.”
Vega pioneered the award-winning interactive net art piece FILMTEXT with Mark Amerika. FILMTEXT has had several high profile exhibitions including installations at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London and the American Museum for the Moving Image in New York. John joined the CU Fine Arts Department as an Instructor of Digital Arts and later with CU’s ATLAS program as a Senior Instructor teaching generative art and motion design. His own digital art works have been widely exhibited online as well as in traditional gallery spaces. Vega has also collaborated with net artists Keith and Mendi Obadike creating the interactive libretto for the net opera The Sour Thunder and has produced video art for several live events including concert visuals for electronic music pioneer Steve Roach. In addition to showings at major electronic art festivals including SIGGRAPH, FILE and Transmediale, John’s net art can be seen in several online galleries and exhibitions. John is currently producing visuals for the New York production of "The Tibetan Book of the Dead LIVE" to be produced at the Asia Society in the fall of 2006. John will work in collaboration with Philip Glass who will compose and perform an original score with an ensemble of Tibetan and Western musicians. Peter Goldfarb will direct and perform and Kenneth Green will act as producer.
Vega will be teaching a class in Macromedia Flash at Anderson Ranch from July 30th to August 3rd 2007.
Wirescapes is an exploration of the machine as conduit to the art idea. The user interacts with a Virtual Sculpture Interface (VSI) to create digital “action paintings.” Dynamic scripts generate infinite forms and fleeting moments of beauty and chaos. Wirescapes presents opportunities for the viewer to see the creative process differently and capture what is in the moment.
Wirescapes 1.0 is an interactive virtual sculpture and action painting tool. The viewer relates with various shapes—polka dot, ball, box, paint squiggle, fragment of geometry—to control the substance of the creative expression, including object and background color, orientation, spacing, velocity, direction, form, canvas size, and transparency. A click on the canvas captures a still image.
Automatic Handwriting Part One is a series of 3D animations based upon Vega's Hyperstills series of algorithmic, 3D images. The four works that make up automatic handwriting part one lead the viewer on a mesmerizing, meditative journey through the portals of conscious existence into an abstract world. Exotic forms stretch across the matrix of time and space. Fire morphs into wind, into turbulent smoke-infused water, and hints at the secret source of all Elements.