Jeffrey Shaw is a leading figure in new media art. He initiated the creative use of digital media in the fields of virtual and augmented reality, immersive visualization, and many more. His work includes performance, sculpture, video and countless interactive installations. One of his most remarkable works is Legible City, in which the viewers must actively participate in order to make the interactive installation work. The visitor has to ride a stationary bicycle to navigate through the simulated city streets of Manhattan with buildings made of letters, words and sentences that are projected on a big screen. The architecture made of letters corresponds to the actual plan and scale of Manhattan. The user is able to control the direction and speed when travelling the city with the handlebar and pedals, just like a normal bike. The visitor chooses where to go in their journey, making Legible City a three dimensional book which can be read in any direction. The virtual world in which the bicyclist is travelling truly simulates the experience of bicycling in the real world.
Canadian director Bruce McDonald is recognized for his outstanding work. He graduated from the film program at Ryerson University and has had many successful feature films. In 2007, he created a risky and emotional piece called “The Tracey Fragments”. This film is visually captivating, but it takes us on a complete head-trip. Tracey Berkowitz, played by Ellen Page is not like your everyday teenager. Tracey is angry, insecure and filled with an unsettling self-loathing. She believes she “hypnotized” her 9-year-old brother, Sonny and convinced him to think he is a dog. After he disappears, she feels like it’s her fault and her responsibility to find him. This leads her to some dark and dangerous places, and ultimately naked under a shower curtain on the city bus. Even though shooting the scenes took him only two weeks, Bruce McDonald spent nine months in post-production.
Tracey shares her emotional journey through “multi-frame” images of various sizes within the screen. She sees everything in pieces – some imaginary, some not. The shattered movie is constantly splitting into multiple shots, which helps us feel her crisis. Shaky camera movements and random zooming help to set a realistic tone to the motion picture. Ellen Page is great in every movie. On the other hand, the supporting cast is a little flat. Did I like this film? Yes. Would I watch it again? No.
What makes this film unique is that McDonald released the footage to the public so anyone can make his or her own remix of Tracey Berkowitz’s life. He is allowing everyone and anyone to edit music videos, trailers, or even an entirely new cut of the film. I have never heard of anything like this before, and I am going to make my own version of it one day. This creative film and piece of art allows the public to engage with it in ways no other film has ever done before. McDonald has gone above and beyond with this brilliant idea, and I am hoping to see many more from different artists, maybe even from me someday...
