Video 1
J.Walt introduces
Spontaneous Fantasia.
MPEG-4 (9.6 Mb)
Mpeg-1 (12.1 Mb)
Quicktime (4.1 Mb)

Video 2
A 3 minute demo of J.Walt's performances.
MPEG-4 (19.2 Mb)
Quicktime (8.7 Mb)

 
 

The above images are stills from live performances of illustrations of music by Satie and Chopin.

Autocosm: Gardens of Thuban
a Spontaneous Fantasia by J.Walt


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Autocosm: Gardens of Thuban is a 17 minute live graphic performance with music. It premiered at SIGGRAPH 2005 in Los Angeles as the preshow for the Electronic Theater. There were a total of five performances.

Video 3
A 10.5 minute video documenting J.Walt's SIGGRAPH 2005 performances:

Windows Media (24 Mb)
Quicktime (19 Mb)
Mpeg-1 (80 Mb)

 

Autocosm: Gardens of Thuban is a structured improvisation in which I start with an empty field and draw in real time before the audience. Stroke by stroke, I create an alien landscape populated with organic plants, trees, stones and flowers. This is an autocosm, a self-contained world with its own logic and rules. This world is perhaps near the distant star Thuban (Alpha Draconis) in the constellation Draco. In the course of the piece, the world grows and, with the help of a catalyst, bursts into life. The action is an allegory of awakening and transformation.
J.Walt performing live before a full house.
On one level, this piece is fantastic science fiction story. It's a lush depiction of an alien world: A sun rises over a mysterious landscape where strange forms grow. On another level, this piece is an exploration of forms. Each stroke is different, and I produce a wide variation from simple interactions. Each stroke is witnessed by the audience, and over time larger forms, made of the individual shapes, emerge. On still another level, this piece is an exploration of a new type of performance. With the software I've written, I'm able to transform immediately the movements of my hand and arm into sculpture and architecture. It's a celebration of the wonder of motion becoming form, where process and product are one.

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