Augmented Organism is a project bringing together science, art and technology with world wisdom traditions, sounds and movements. AugOrg values connection with land. AugOrg sees nature as an intelligent voice. AugOrg's purpose is to create globally relevant art by supporting the voice of our natural world & use technologies of today and tomorrow as tools to connect us back to the wisdom of Mother Earth. Aug Org's vision is to reinstill presence in our communities and deepen awareness within ourselves.
Production Process and Products
Highly focused experimentation and the development of digital and physical interdisciplinary artwork requires optimum environmental working conditions. Arteles Creative Centre offered quality controlled studio environments as well as external environmental art areas for developing both indoor and outdoor work. Cy and Jaz, in consultation and collaboration with Neil Harbisson, generated the following production assets derived from interdisciplinary experimentation and augmentation of interactions between 'organism' and 'environment':
- A tourable AugOrg live performance - including physical movement, sonochromatic AV-design, photography, video & text.
- AugOrg archival video of the live performance
- A series of experimental 'Aug Org' videos based on practice based research areas (read more about these areas of research below)
- AugOrg film series - 4 short dance films
- AugOrg - The Album - A journey into the sound of augmented organisms
- Workshop module based on the processes of making AugOrg
- Practice based academic research documentation & media material
- Public & Private Video Log subscriptions - during and after the residency
- One or more websites containing access to the above material
- A Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality short film/meditation experience based on AugOrg Transmedia assets - combining original music, sound design, vocal meditations, photography (and potentially video) from AugOrg as well as additional visual designs all within a fully immersive VR experience
Meet the Artists
Interdisciplinary artists Cy Gorman (AUS) and Jazmyne Koch (GER/USA) met at the 2014 World Dance Alliance Global Summit in Angers, France, where they were both showcasing choreographic works that presented unique perspectives on contemporizing the past and envisioning the future. They immediately recognized a shared passion for creatively expressing theimportance of the individual'sinterconnected relationship with Mother Nature and the art of storytelling with film.
In 2015, Cy and Jaz began a transnational new media/film research project exploring states of liminality and presence by combining mythological "goddess" archetypes within various physical & digital environments.
In the latter half of 2015, Cy met cyborg artist and activist Neil Harbisson (SPN/USA). The two formed another transnational creative collaboration and Cy began integrating Neil's sonochromatic files into both his audio and visual designs. This additional contribution from Neil, combined with the developing languages of Cy and Jaz's work, sparked the interest of one of the most renowned creative residency centres in Scandinavia and broader Europe - The Arteles Creative Residency Center.
The Arteles Creative Residency Center have invited Cy and Jaz in collaboration and consultation with Neil Harbisson to develop their individual and collective AugOrg work and practice in Finland during the month of June, 2016.
Why Finland & The Arteles Center?
The Arteles Creative Center provided optimum external natural environments and internal studio environments for the production phase of Augmented Organism. Located in the countryside of Hämeenkyrö, in the area of Haukijärvi, the artists were in direct contact with nature with easy access to lakes and forests for their field research, yet had access to nearby towns for any supplies they needed along the way. They also worked with the Arteles logistical & production staff as well as had access to the local social, creative, technical and administrative networks for support. Arteles made for the perfect experimental station for research in reevaluating the balance & integration of the technological/physical realms, and the balance between mind/body/spirit.
Why practice based research?
Highly focused creative exploration and production pipelines often yield breakthroughs for research and development in communities of all kinds. During the AugOrg Residency, a deep dive was taken into creative practice based research that was highly geared towards production techniques exploring relationships between the following:
1) Technology and Mythology - Technological advancement and various aspects of mythological psychology, animal, human and plant archetypes, rites of passage, ceremony, ritual and healing.
2) Communication - Digital communication & networking concepts and their effect on the nature of non-digital relationships and environments.
3) Geomatics, Thermal and Data Visualization - Geomatics, also known as geospatial technology is the discipline of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering geographic information, or spatially referenced information.
4) Biomagnetics - The field of Biomagnetics defines and explores examples of naturally occurring or artificially created magnetic fields and different organisms' relationships to these magnetic fields.