The
Museum of Faces
An interactive installation
for audiences
Rencontres Internationles Submission
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The Museum of Faces
The Museum of Faces is a unique multimedia installation based on Bolotin's giant twelve-headed Lumiphonic Creature Choir invention. It allows participants at a festival or event to come together and record their views in a cutting-edge and highly imaginative new way that plays with the intersection of cinema and contemporary art.
First fully shown in Australia in October 2018 it is now ready for international showcasing.
VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
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SYNOPSIS
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“The Museum of Faces” is a large-scale interactive multimedia installation. It is based on the award-winning Lumiphonic Creature Choir invention, a giant twelve-headed, projection-mapped sculpture that allows people from around the world to record their own stories. Participants step into a custom-designed Video Booth where they can record their views on topical and provocative issues relevant to the event. Their face is then projection–mapped onto the sculpture in real-time and triggered through a specially designed interface of twelve glowing buttons.
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At its heart, “The Museum of Faces” is a unique new interactive way for a festival to allow people to express their views and comment on key issues in contemporary art and culture.
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For Recontres Internationales, participants will be able to record their own faces and stories in this very special presentation of the work. A theme question most relevant to the event can be chosen by the artist and the event organisers. In this way, the multimedia installation becomes literally a reflection of the faces and voices of the gathering.
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At special designated times, the 12 Creatures can also revert to "singing mode" and perform haunting choral melodies that the lead artist has created.
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The underlying invention of The Lumiphonic Creature Choir has been developed over a few years as a music performance, however the multimedia installation of The Museum of Faces was first premiered in Sydney Australia at the end of 2018 for TEDxBligh Street and at 107 Projects Redfern.
It has been designed to be incredibly tour-able – the work can easily pack down and be taken by plane, and takes only a few hours to setup.
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A showing at Recontres Internationales will be a premiere of the work not only in Europe but in the Northern Hemisphere.
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* Please see the rest of this website (links above) for extra info - especially The Museum of Faces section.
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BIO OF LEAD ARTIST
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Bolotin creates giant hybrid creatures and interactive multimedia work that fuse together theatre, film, music, puppetry and artificial intelligence technology in unique new ways. These interactive work include “Emergence: Build Your Own Being” (Sydney Opera House, 2007), in which audiences came together to create their ideal human being over four giant screens and then watch it come alive, and his current work “The Lumiphonic Creature Choir” in which a giant twelve-headed creature comes alive and begins to sing.
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Bolotin has also created interactive film work for the Sydney Festival (2006-2010) including the Festival First Night (2009 and 2010), Sydney Writers’ Festival, Cockatoo Island Festival and many more. He has created live interactive visuals for some of the world’s leading musical acts including Jamie Lidell (UK), Buraka Som Sistema (Portugal), Throwing Muses (US), Four Tet (UK), Shapeshifter (NZ), Grizzly Bear (US) and Entropic (Aus).
Mark Bolotin is an award-winning multimedia artist, inventor and technologist, as well as the founder of Synarcade Audio-Visuals (www.synarcade.com.au) and co-founder of the renown New York art technology company Hyphen Hub (www.hyphenhub.com).
Bolotin has created multimedia work across the world including at the Sydney Opera House, New York Hall of Science, Museum of Modern Art (Zagreb), 3LD Art Technology Centre New York, Sydney Festival, SXSW (Texas), Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney), Burning Man and the Melbourne Arts House. He was also appointed the Arts Hub Co-Director for New York City’s inaugural Creative Tech Week 2015, a giant city-wide festival that involved over 800 leading tech artists and organisations including MOMA and the Met Museum. Recently Bolotin was featured at TEDxSydney 2018 and named as a delegate to the Future Innovators Summit in Ars Elecronica (Austria).
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FURTHER IMAGES 2018
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Museum of Faces
Participants
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BRIEF CV OF MAIN ARTIST - Mark Bolotin
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Occupation
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• Multimedia Artist, Inventor, Technologist
• Co-Founder, Hyphen Hub, New York
• Artistic Director, Synarcade Audio-Visuals
• Multimedia Tutor and Audio-Visual Coordinator
Work
• 2001 - ongoing Founder and Artistic Director, Synarcade Audio-Visuals
• 2016 Co-Director, Creative Tech Week (Arts Hub), New York City
• 2014 - 2018 Co-founder, Co-Director, Hyphen Hub, New York City
• 2013 Multimedia Producer, Remy Toledo Galleries, New York
• 2001 - 2013 Private Tutor: Multimedia, Interactive Technology and Film. Uganda, Kenya, China, Australia
• 2001 - 2010 Multimedia and Interactive Visuals Producer, Design Portfolio Pty Ltd
• 2008 Peer Member, Assessment Board for Inter-Arts office, Australia Council of the Arts
• 2006 - 2007 Co-Producer/Artistic Director “Emergence”, Sydney Opera House
• 2002 - 2007 Multimedia Tutor, Audio-Visual Tech Assistant, Metro Screen
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Selected Multimedia/Interactive Work
• 2018 Performance at TEDxBlighStreet (Australia)
• 2018 Performance at SymbioticA’s “Quite Frankly Conference on Frankenstein”, Perth
• 2018 Solo show: “The Museum of Faces”, 107 Redfern Sydney
• 2018 Delegate to the Future Innovators Summit, Ars Electronica (Austria)
• 2016 Alchemy, multi-media visuals for iconic choreographer Jennifer Muller, National Center for Performing Arts, Beijing, China. Also festivals in Tianjin and Harbin, China.
• 2016 The Museum of Faces. Solo show, Immersive Gallery, Beford Ave, Brooklyn, NY.
• 2016 Interview: the Warhol Project, multimedia dance (US/Holland) in collaboration with the Warhol Estate. Premiere: Arnhem, Holland. Toured across Holland/Belgium.
• 2015 Honorarium Project: Burning Man 2015 (US) – The Lumiphonic Creature Choir, Nevada, USA.
• 2015 Headline performance A Night with the Creatures, The Bell House, Brooklyn, New York.
• 2015 Guest performance at the Giorgio Gomelsky Living Memorial, The Red Door, New York.
• 2015 Live Visuals for Jennifer Muller dance, New York Live Arts, New York.
• 2014 Invitation to showcase at SXSW Interactivity/Music Conference (Austin, TX, USA)
• 2013 The Lumiphonic Creature Choir support Moby at Surreal, New York. (Promoter: Unicorn Meat)
• 2013 Showcase and Salon of “The Cult/Creature Choir” at The Red Door, Chelsea, New York.
• 2013 Installation: The Creature Choir, Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU), Zagreb, Croatia.
• 2013 Films on Media Façade, Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU), Zagreb, Croatia.
• 2013 Multimedia Theatre Workshops, Shanghai, China
• 2012 The Lumiphonic Creature Choir showcases in New York City:
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Union Square Park Pavilion, Manhattan, New York
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New York Hall of Science, Maker Faire, New York
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Casita Maria Arts and Education Center, Bronx, New York
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Residency Unlimited church, Brooklyn, New York
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Flux Factory, Long Island City, New York
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Three-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center, New York
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Winkel&Balktik Laboratory Event, Brooklyn, New York
• 2012 Broken Stone Showcase, interactive visuals, Canberra, Sydney, Kyneton, Melbourne, Sydney
• 2011 Build Your Own Being, online interactive experience: www.buildyourownbeing.com
• 2011 Vivid Showcase, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Sydney
• 2010 Four Elements, 360 deg dome film, ANAT Dome Lab, Perth , Australia
• 2010 The Lumiphonic Creature Choir (prototype), Underbelly Arts Festival, Cockatoo Island Artist Residency Launch
• 2010 Reflections at Dusk, multimedia showcase event with artist Craig Walsh (Aus). ABoyd Education Centre, Bundanon
• 2010 Live Interactive Visuals. Bands: Grizzly Bear (US). Sydney Festival 2010
• 2009 Holographic Forms, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2009 Movers and Shakers, large-scale interactive multimedia event (Nigel Jamieson, Artistic Director). Sydney Festival
• 2009 Interactive Audio-Visuals. Bands: Buraka Som Sistema (Portugal), Throwing Muses (US), Four Tet (UK).
• 2008 Token’s Elephant. new media installation, Sydney Children’s Festival, Carriageworks
• 2008 Japan Dreaming, Tokyo/Sydney
• 2008 Natural Visions, film installation. Qingdao, China
• 2008 Interactive Visuals (live), Krafty Kuts (UK), Caribou (Canada), Kora (NZ). Sydney Festival 2008
• 2007 Emergence: Build Your Own Being, multimedia performance, Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Arts House
• 2007 The Galapagos Submergence, The Kirk, Sydney
• 2007 Interactive Visuals (live), Afra & the Incredible Beatbox Band (Kapan), Quan (Aus), Shapeshifter (NZ). Sydney Festival
• 2006 Slam. Sydney Writer’s Festival 2006, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2006 Siesta (Gauche) launch, Sydney Opera House
• 2006 Holoface, Knot Gallery
• 2005 Reflections and Trains, large-scale multimedia installation, Cockatoo Island Festival
• 2004 Demophobic, interactive film event, Balmain Film Festival
• 2001 Creator’s Creation, Next Wave Digital Media Project, Melbourne
Selected Commercial Multimedia Work and Films
• 2016 Co-Director – Arts Hub, Creative Tech Week New York.
• 2016 Warhol Project, multimedia dance (US/Holland) in collaboration with the Warhol Estate. Premiere: Arnhem, Holland
• 2014 Live visuals for Cary Nokey (Lady Gaga’s producer)
• 2011 Centenary Celebrations, interactive visual installation for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Royal Exhibition Hall
• 2010 Interactive Visuals for Volkswagen, Brisbane.
• 2009 Interactive Multimedia Installation for Panasonic Asia
• 2006 Live Visuals for Jaguar
• 2006 Trials of Flight
• 2005 Take My Hand. Music Clip (Gauche). ABC
• 2002 Land of Honey. Documentary
• 2001 Magnetic.
• 2000 Creator’s Creation
Selected Grants/Awards/Publications
• 2018 Selected as a delegate for the Future Innovators Summit, Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria)
• 2017 LMCC/New York State Council for the Arts Creative Engagement Recipient, NYC.
• 2016 Intel-Q publication on The Lumiphonic Creature Choir project.
• 2016 Editor’s Choice (x2), World Maker Faire, New York City.
• 2015 Burning Man Honorarium project, Nevada, US.
• 2014 Published in “Light Works – Experimental Projection Mapping”, Francesco Murano, 2014. (Italy)
• 2012 Editor’s Choice, World Maker Faire, New York Hall of Science. (US)
• 2012 Creative Culture Fund recipient. (Aus)
• 2011 Australia Council for the Arts: Inter-Arts grant, Multimedia Project Development
• 2010 Underbelly Arts Festival grant (Aus)
• 2009 Arts NSW New Cross-Platform Work grant
• 2009 Australia Council for the Arts: Music Board grant, New Media Arts work
• 2008 MEGA (Mobile Enterprise Growth Alliance) award: Best Concept
• 2008 Digital Visual FX Scholarship, Metro Screen..
• 2007 Sydney Opera House Work Co-Funding Scheme.
• 2007 Australia Council Inter-Arts (New Work) grant
• 2006 Best Director, Best Screenplay. Newcastle Shootout Film Festival
• 2002 Multicultural Mentor Scheme recipient, mentor: Yahoo Serious, Film and Television Office NSW.
• 2001 Best Film. Woodford Film Festival
• 1997 Sydney Morning Herald: ‘1997 Young Writer of the Year’.
Residencies
• 2012 Residency Unlimited artist residency, New York City, USA.
• 2012 Motopeni Education Community, Nairobi, Kenya
• 2012 Suubi Community Centre residency, Luganda, Uganda
• 2010 Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT), Dome Lab Residency, Perth
• 2010 Arthur Boyd Bundanon Artist Residency, Shoalhaven
• 2010 Legs on Wall development residency, Lilyfield
• 2009 Artspace Residency, Sydney
• 2009 BigCi Residency, Bilpin, NSW
• 2006 AFTRS LAMP Multimedia Development Residency, Milsons Island
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Selected Reviews
“Synarcade (Mark Bolotin) is no doubt experimenting with technology and successfully integrates aspects of VJ culture into their multimedia productions. What is quite unique however is that their style and concept opens it up to a different audience, who are not standard theatre audiences or those that would necessarily engage in hybrid arts practices. It is incredibly accessible …." Virginia Hyam, Studio Executive Producer, Sydney Opera House
"This form of innovation that both draws upon research into the experience of everyday life and yet retains the immediacy and openness of live performance should be recognized as at the forefront of contemporary artistic practice today.” Dr.Charles Merewether, Artistic Director & Curator, 2006 Biennale of Sydney
"Emergence is a fascinating show and delivers a genuine poignancy, inspired by a profound recognition that human virtues and failings are inextricably intertwined." The Age, Melbourne
“Mark’s creative work is at the very cutting edge of interactive arts practice at the moment and what I find particularly exciting is his pioneering creation of unique technology for each of his multimedia projects.” Jennifer Wilson, The Project Factory
"It is hard to do justice to just how successful Synarcade have been in merging the trappings of technology with the concerns of a theatrical experience." Spark
“The technological delight that is the [Lumiphonic Creature] choir is like nothing Australia may have seen locally. A work of this calibre is more commonly seen offshore where experimentation across mediums is encouraged and more commonplace. It would be my great pleasure to see this work grow as it challenges medium, perception and interaction through performance and visuals that is unique unto itself.” . Annie Laerkesen, Director, Artists Residency Program, Cockatoo Island, Sydney Australia.
" a unique and groundbreaking artistic and cultural phenomenon.” Metro Screen
"Emergence takes audience interactivity to a brave new level" Drum Media
“Compelling” Canberra Times
“[Emergence is]... an explosive performance of curiosity, science and in-depth thought about what the ‘perfect’ human could possibly be.....” Carved Media Empire
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“Astounding” Generation Q
"Meddling with genes raises plenty of issues for lawyers, doctors and radio shock jocks to argue about, but Emergence turns this ethical minefield into an interactive multimedia performance involving film, theatre and music" Sydney Morning Herald
“Certainly I found it a most stimulating exploratory performance experience with thought provoking interactivity built into the concept….I found the gentle humour and quietly challenging propositions very refreshing.” Tamara Winikoff. Executive Director, NAVA (National Association for the Visual Arts)
