golan levin: generative situations

london

golan-levin

golan at the decode: digital sensations exhibition

golan levin describes himself as an artist and engineer. his work is part of a new discipline which is called digital design or interactive design. recently I have even heard it referred to as performance media.

I have read a lot about golin’s work after I received his press release from the decode: digital design sensations exhibition at the v&a museum, but I have to admit that before that he was unknown to me. as I said, it’s a fairly new discipline… even if computer aided art has been around for decades.

when I went to the decode: digital design sensations exhibition at the v&a, which opened last week, I was lucky enough to bump into him. he was standing next to the ‘opto isolator’, his exhibited work and was just finished talking to some journalist. I introduced myself, and pittsburgh-based golin was very welcoming. I told him about my drawn interview concept. he said ‘it sounds like fun’ and started drawing. he told me about his eastern european wife and the fact that his beard isn’t usually that long. he made me take a picture of his driver’s license to prove this!

the ‘opto isolator’ (see video below) is a mechanical eye. the object follows the gaze of the person that stands in front of it. basically the viewer directly influences the work. golin writes on his website ‘what if artworks could know how we were looking at them? and, given this knowledge, how might they respond to us?’ I don’t know the general answer but this one is blinking.

opto-isolator-by-golan-levin

‘opto isolator’ and his creator

golan-levins-drivers-licence

golan’s drivers licence. you can actually see his face :)

‘opto isolator’ 2007
the sculpture looks its viewer directly in the eye and responses

‘dialtones (a telesymphony)’ 2001
concert performance by ringing of the audience’s own mobile phones

draw yourself

golan-levin-1

describe yourself in one word

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draw your favourite objects

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golan likes surprises

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