Microverse

Pat Clark | United States

Run time: 5:20 min.

Year: 2025

Synopsis:
Microverse uses traditional microscopy techniques to reveal the intricate beauty of microscopic structures, projected onto the planetarium screen. Designed to immerse viewers in a cosmic journey bridging the minuscule and the vast. By transforming the planetarium into a canvas for the unseen microcosm, the film explores the profound interconnectedness of all scales of existence.

”As a media maker and researcher I am interested in new methods of storytelling and how they can be combined with traditional narrative practice. Through my research and creative practice I attempt to redefine the boundaries of perception and engagement for artists, designers and audiences alike.”

Artist Bio:
Pat Clark is an assistant professor in the Department of Critical Media Practices and the faculty director of the Immersive Media Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder.

White birds worship the phoenix

LEOW | China / United States

Run time: 4:39 min.

Year: 2024

Synopsis:
“White Birds Worship the Phoenix” draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese fable “Hundred Birds Worship the Phoenix”, a tale symbolizing auspiciousness and harmony. The phoenix, revered as the king of birds, earns the admiration of all creatures through its virtue and kindness. Each year, the birds gather before the phoenix, offering their most beautiful feathers as a gesture of respect.

However, revisiting this story stirred a strange feeling within me: year after year, the white birds surrender their feathers, their once vibrant and colorful wings gradually fading to a monotonous white. Meanwhile, the phoenix's plumage becomes increasingly dazzling, absorbing all the hues from the birds' sacrifices.

When everything seems to have reached a state of "perfection," the white birds start to vanish, and eventually, even the phoenix disappears without a trace. Perhaps it was the overwhelming weight of its resplendent plumage that the phoenix, too, could no longer bear.

Artist Bio:
LEOW (Dian Wang) is a Shanghai-born visual artist, music producer, and digital creator specializing in digital space design, audiovisual production, and computational arts. His work explores the fusion of Asian culture and modern technology, utilizing generative visuals, projection mapping, and immersive installations to create multi-sensory experiences. His artistic practice challenges perceptions of reality and examines how technology reshapes human interactions with space, sound, and memory.

LEOW studied in the United Kingdom before working at Remote Control Productions in Los Angeles, where he focused on film scoring and audiovisual storytelling. His international background allows his work to blend Western cinematic aesthetics with Eastern cultural traditions. In 2021, he founded Asian Tribe Project, a platform dedicated to multimedia collaborations and cross-disciplinary development of Asian cultural arts.

OPIR*withShuShu*

Xenia Meierson | Germany

Run time: 5:00 min.

Year: 2023

Synopsis:
The Projekt Opir (ukrainian: resistance) is an experimental 360 digital hand drawn sound based frame by frame Animation.  
Topic of the Soundtrack is the intense and immersive experiences while being confronted with the fullscale invasion in Ukraine. ShuShu is connected to the collective consciousness and a transforming being. In the media of the Fulldome this character can show its mood and personality. It can take us through its magic world and transcended per-spectives.
 
The Projekt Opir (ukrainian: resistance) is an experimental 360 digital hand drawn sound based frame by frame Animation.  
Roots of this project are the confrontation for my family and me with the fullscale invasion in Ukraine.
 
In the stadium of lost and power we were going threw layers of heavy experiences and emotions.
 
What’s always stays was the mindset of :
 
«Все буде добре«
„everything will be fine.“
„Alles wird gut“
 
This phrase kept us together and still gives us hope and empowerment for the community.
 
In a solidarity soundtrack for Ukraine to fundraise money, my friend "dolph" and me were creating a soundtrack based on the words and states of „все буде добре».
 
As always music connects people and helps out in heavy times.
So this kind of artistic exploring is also a kind of empowering, connecting and resisting in a way I have never felt before.

To make this experiences more immersive I decided to use the Fulldome as format. Here the viewers are invited to be inside of the work of sound and animations to get in touch with the situations and feelings where you just get lost in powers but need to keep on threw and hold on.
 
This work is a lovecall for my community, family and friends. Its a reminder for our connections and powers. Being together and in love while these times is the most empowering resistance.
 
So thank you all for being with me and being with me since then.

Aeon

Debora Bernagozzi & Jason Bernagozzi | United States

Live Video Processing by Debora Bernagozzi
Custom Software (SC Re;Trace), Sound by Jason Bernagozzi

Synopsis:
Aeon is a digital dome performance by Jason & Debora Bernagozzi. In greek mythology, Aeon represented the god of all timelines happening at once. Inspired by this spherical notion of time, the artists explore movement & color taken from personal essay videos and map it onto live, realtime geometries.

Artist Bios:
Artist Debora Bernagozzi works primarily with the mediums of video, photography, and fiber. She received her BFA in Video from the Atlanta College of Art in 1999 and her MFA in Electronic Integrated Art from Alfred University in 2002. Her work has been exhibited in the US and internationally, including at the Denver Art Museum, Burchfield Penney Museum, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and the Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film and Video Festival. She was awarded artist residencies at the Experimental Television Center, Squeaky Wheel Media Arts Center, and in Kuala Lumpur. 

Jason Bernagozzi is an artist and technologist living and working in Colorado. Their work seeks to deconstruct and remix the cultural codes embedded within the psyche of an increasingly mediated world. To achieve this, a central feature of their practice is the creation of video software and hardware used as a real time instrument for improvisational exploration. In particular, they are interested in the emergent properties of image processing as a vehicle for a critical examination of the power structures embedded within information technologies.

Inspired by residency experiences that were transformational for them both personally and artistically, Debora and Jason Bernagozzi, along with Hank Rudolph co-founded Signal Culture, a nonprofit organization that provides residencies, resources, and exhibition opportunities for artists, researchers, and innovators working in experimental media art. She serves as Executive Director while continuing to make and exhibit her own work.