Feature Speaker
Vibeke Sorensen
Professor and Chairperson, Department of Media Study University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Vibeke Sorensen is a professor and artist working in digital multimedia and computer animation, interactive architectural installation, and visual-music performance. Her work in experimental new media spans three decades and has been published and exhibited worldwide, including in books, galleries, museums, conferences, performances, film festivals, on cable and broadcast television, and on the Internet.
From 1984-1994, she was Founding Director of the Computer Animation Laboratory in the School of Film and Video at the California Institute of the Arts, and from 1994-2005 she was Professor and Founding Chair of the Division of Animation and Digital Arts in the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California.
Sorensen is a 2001 Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in Film/Video/Multimedia and the 2005 Knight Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. Currently, she is Professor and Chair of the Department of Media Study at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York.
Discussion Topic
Title: Global Eyes
Digital media are increasingly global and interactive, building bridges between nature, people, and cultures. Given the rapid integration of physical and digital media, it is possible to see and engage our world in alternative ways. This talk will discuss global visual culture and present alternative approaches to media that foster respect among people and nations. It will introduce the emerging field of ethnographic multimedia, and present highlights from the 2007 ACM SIGGRAPH Art Gallery: Global Eyes and the Global Visual Music Project. Based on cross-cultural interpretations of 'safe haven,' both natural and spiritual, the latter includes Sanctuary, a multi-screen interactive architectural installation that integrates digital documentary photography and video, acoustic and computer music, plants, embedded systems, sensing technology, and real-time processing.
