Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: February 28, 2003
Article Type: Journal

Ever the kiteflying pioneer, Jackie Matisse, of Fontainebleau Forest, France, late last year collaborated on the first high-bandwidth art piece ever created by computer. Working with the Amsterdam Science and Technology Center, Matisse contributed 12 of her very long, beautifully decorated kite tails to the project. Because wind speed was added to the equation, extensive calculations were required for these real-time kinetic art pieces (kites). Computer operations, mainly at universities, around the world each took on a single one of the dozen tails. The computers were located in Chicago, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Virginia and elsewhere.

The simulation took place in Amsterdam in a three-by-three meter room known as The Cave. Three-dimensional computer-generated stereo images were projected on the walls and floor. Visitors viewed the images with special glasses, allowing them to experience data in exceptional ways.

The test was dubbed “kites flying in and out of space” because the project was actually an illusion of sorts. A viewer could put his hand right through a flying, fluttering kite.

PDF Link: Journal Issue