Northern Spark 2014 - Update #7

Insects Find a Temporary Home in Hotel Hotel

Hotel Hotel is a poetic exploration of the relationship between living organisms and architecture. This collaboration by Ben Moren, Kate Casanova and Daniel Dean reflects on the transience of life in the city, on temporary abodes, on sentient inhabitants, on occupying and moving through space, and on the interactions that occur in transit. Hotel Hotel’s occupants are species of insects, such as caterpillars, ants, and moths. They inhabit the intensely colored rooms that dramatically contrast their individual colors and movements. In Hotel Hotel, the insects are anthropomorphized yet remain alien. This project inserts these distinct species into the center of an imagined urban interior.

In Hotel Hotel, the projection functions architecturally as virtual space, allowing the viewer to experience scale in an unexpected way. Through the magic of projection, we see these insects populate a building, metaphorically embodying the complexity of peoples, customs, cultures, and individual traits that make up the citizens of contemporary cities.

Asia Ward's Electric Hopscotch Playfully Illuminates Convention Center Plaza

Electric Hopscotch is a glowing electronic twist on the classic jump and skip game. In Electric Hopscotch, the interaction between players is a physical dance of memory, ranging from simple steps to complicated jumps. Instead of chalked squares on the pavement, players position “jump-pads” in any order or direction they prefer. The jump-pads contain electronic memory sensors, outlined with glowing surface-mounted LEDs.  

To play Electric Hopscotch, a person completes a sequence of jumps and skips on the pads from start to finish. The pads remember the sequence of jumps and play back the order by lighting up in sequence. One player at a time—and then whoever wants to accept the challenge can try to replicate your rad jump and skip moves! 

Asia Ward is a Minnesota-based artist and educator whose work ranges from animatronic creatures to large-scale metal sculptures and aluminum dioramas. A past Art(ists) on the Verge fellow, Ward loves to show others how to work with basic circuitry, computer game programming, stop motion animation, and hacked sensors and toys, and has given workshops for all ages at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Murray State University in Kentucky, and the Science Museum of Minnesota.