Omnibus Filing


Biography

       James Sham's cross-disciplinary practice focuses on interfacing technologies and material processes from a variety of disciplines within a contemporary art practice. Sham's work involves multiple areas of focus including pigment extraction and using eye-tracking technology to study Interpretation in deaf culture. His work has been exhibited in many international venues including White Box Gallery (NYC), European Cable Network Broadcast (Germany and France), the Ellensburg Film Festival (Seattle) and the Asian Arts Initiative (Philadelphia) among others. James Sham is an Assistant Professor of Innovation Arts at the George Washington University.

The Journey

       In the fall of 2013, I met Prof. Brian Korgel in Russia at an innovation workshop hosted by MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Science and Technology) and Skoltech (the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology). As a part of the workshop, we were challenged to develop research proposals that might catalyze innovation in a novel way, to develop new models that might be possible. Consequently, we developed a program (Rapid Design Pivot) to bring artists directly into the laboratory in order to conduct research and produce creative projects alongside scientists and engineers. The concept was to import extra-disciplinary thinking into the lab by enlisting artists to disrupt research conventions through collaboration. At the very least we would discover new and radical applications for emerging materials and technology, and at the most artists could develop their own inventions and innovations, empowered by their collaborations with researchers. The hypothesis was that artists might find the field of invention and innovation permeable enough to explore their own ideas, while also enabling a fruitful intellectual space to develop artworks, nonartworks, pseudo-artworks and other perhaps yet-to-be defined ideas.


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       The following 3 years has been an ambitious experiment in cross-disciplinary collaboration, with results ranging from research papers, inventions and prototypes, to artworks and installations. The range of experiences have spanned from being physically embedded in a laboratory environment as a living space, to virtual cross-continental collaborations with A.I. researchers. Some conversations occurred in smoky Moscow conference rooms, while others occurred in hidden rooftop butterfly conservatories. Some breakthroughs happened on the drive to Target, while others happened at 4am alone in the isolation of the laboratory.

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       Although this exhibition is a culmination of 3 years of research and work, we hope that it represents a beginning-a beginning of a new way to collaborate, cross-pollinate, innovate, produce research, make art, and connect in a human way between siloed disciplines. The collaborators in this exhibition represent 5 different UT laboratories, 3 different schools, 2 international tech research companies and 1 local Austin-based video production studio. The authors on these projects span every level of Academia, with laboratory technicians, assistant professors, full professors, soonto- be-retired professors, undergraduate, graduate and PhD students all listed as co-authors on a variety of projects and publications. Most of these collaborators worked on these projects in addition to their academic and career duties, donating countless hours as a labour of love. My hope is that this ethos will be infectious through the results of our efforts, and that viewers will feel empowered to tap into the collaborative resources in their own communities.

Projects

1. Solar Rock Geodes

Artists: James Sham, Vikas Reddy, Dan Houck

Dimensions: variable

Materials: Various minerals, geodes and crystals, CIS solar devices, voltage meters.

Year: 2016-2017

Description:

Each one of these geodes and minerals holds a special energy that expresses itself through healing and vibration. Using a proprietary CIS nanocrystal ink, each of these specimens has been outfitted with sensors tuned for each rock's specific frequency. To activate these energy fields, vibrate both hands approximately 3 inches above the surface of the rocks. The voltage meters should change their readings when you have successfully activated the energy field.

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2. Invention: Cellulose Solar Paper

Artists: James Sham, Brian Korgel, Malcolm Brown, Vikas Reddy, Taylor Harvey, Sarah Pfeffer, Jen Pate.

Dimensions: 80" x 60" x 10"

Materials: Research paper printed on fleece blankets, extra large binder clip.

Year: 2015-2017

Description:

Invention: Cellulose Solar Paper is an interactive sculpture of a research paper with authors from 3 different disciplines, and bridges the work of 2 laboratories (Korgel Laboratories and the Laboratory of Dr. Malcolm Brown). The product of 2 years of research, this project details the world's first functioning, foldable, flexible solar device made directly on paper. The invention is patent pending, with plans towards commercialization. Artist James Sham was trained in both laboratories to fabricate prototypes and conduct research directly, and worked directly with undergraduate, PhD students and laboratory technicians to produce this project.

BloomBot Mini Teaches Poetry

Artists: James Sham, Mark Jennings.

Dimensions: variable

Materials: Various Robot Parts, seeds, cracked corn.

Description:

BloomBot Mini is a multi-purpose outdoor land robot that acts as a "seed printer" to produce patterns and images in a landscape using a variety of media including birdfeed, rice, dog food, seeds and bulbs, sand, salt and other dry goods. BloomBot Mini is currently in testing phase and in this exhibition has been programmed to teach robot poetry by spelling out exemplars and criticism on the ground. "Robot Poetry" is an emergent field of creative writing and artificial intelligence research focused on poetry written about and by robots, including criticism and related literature. In this exhibition, BloomBot Mini "performs" the following poetic program:

1. The Robots by Robert Pinsky
When they choose to take material form they will resemble
Dragonflies, not machines. Their wings will shimmer.
Like the chorus of Greek drama they will speak
As many, but in the first person singular.
Their colors in the sky will canopy the surface of the earth.
In varying unison and diapason they will dance the forgotten.
Their judgment in its pure accuracy will resemble grace and in
Their circuits the one form of action will be understanding.
Their exquisite sensors will comprehend our very dust
And re-create the best and the worst of us, as though in art.

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Meditation Station 2.0

Artists: James Sham.

Dimensions: variable

Material: EEG Headset, Meditation Zafu/Zabuton set, switchable glass.

Year:2017

Description:

Meditation Station 2.0 is an interactive installation where audience members are invited one at a time to meditate using an EEG headset. Participants must attempt to reach a rather deep threshold state of meditation once inside the installation. When a moderate level of enlightenment has been reached, the participant's brainwaves will trigger the glass to become transparent. Audience members can participate by following the instructions below:
1) Enter Meditation Chamber by crawling. *Alternate entrance available for those requiring additional accessibility-please see attendant.
2) Put on EEG Headset. Breathe.
3) Find a comfortable sitting position on the floor facing the pedestal. Breathe.
4) Focusing your gaze on the pane of glass, take several long slow deep breaths. Ground your body in the room, and untether your mind. Envision your favorite color in your mind's eye. Envision the exact hue, temperature and value of that color for 3 minutes without breaking focus. Breathe.
5) After 3 minutes has passed, focus both your gaze and your mind's eye on the glass, with an intention to reach enlightenment. Breathe. Repeat until the glass becomes perfectly clear.

The Impossibility of Empathy

Artists: James Sham.

Dimensions: variable

Material: 5-channel video installation.

Year:2016-2017

Description:

The Impossibility of Empathy documents 6 minutes of the artist's spouse in labour during the birth of their first child, and the artist's attempts to translate this experience via facial mimesis. The artist was filmed at 1/5th speed re-enacting the facial expressions of his spouse on green-screen using a teleprompter. The resulting footage was synced back to speed and digitally remapped onto the original. The installation has 5 channels, which are explained below:

Channel 1: Green Screen reenactment
Channel 2: Original Footage
Channel 3: Image-based face-swap
Channel 4: Behind the scenes real time footage
Channel 5: Teleprompter footage

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Click here to watch one of the videos.

The exhibition is now on at Visual arts centre in UT Austin. The exhibit closes on February 24th.Click here to have a look at the exhibition guide.