A portrait of painter Chris Hyndman, whose solo exhibition “No-Touching Zone” runs April 10 – May 17, 2014 at the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities Gallery.

This truncated icosahedron, created by Robert Marshall, measures 7′ 6″ in diameter and consists of 32 panels. It uses two dimensional planes and equilateral shapes to make a symmetric three-dimensional form. This video features Marshall’s geometric marvel set in motion within the rotunda of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. Musician Zoë Keating’s “The Path” provides a dramatic score to capture the dynamics of space and movement.

Meet laser artist Mike Gould. He and his crew are installing their first museum exhibition titled “L is for Laser” at the Midland Center for the Arts. This show features the wordplay of Gould’s “laser alphabet”, his artful interplay of 17 lasers custom built into lunch boxes, and the interactive movement-based installation “A is for InterActive”. This video is a work-in-progress piece for a future film about the art and technology of lasers and artists who cut new ground with their creative possibilities.

The interactive video installation “Moon Unit Face Pong” makes a return appearance for the ArtPrize edition of FoolMoon on September 28, 2013 at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Participants can play a 30-foot tall version of the game pong with Wii-controllers, using each other’s faces as the ball. The faces are captured via The Heidelberg Project Mobile Video Booth, designed in collaboration with artist Tyree Gutyon. A VJ from Team HTBD live remixes the show – view the trailer!

When musician Papillon (Butter Side Up) and filmmaker Donald Harrison (7 Cylinders Studio) decided to collaborate on a music video for “MY TrutH” – the first single off Papillon’s new album Calligraphy – they took a tactile turn and created a short film shot entirely in super 8mm. The story develops around a mysterious figure who’s grounded in the debris of the material world, but seeking to take flight again through imagination, inspiration and connections to his community.

The painting “Ups and Downs” by Tyree Guyton at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) features two smiling faces. When filmmaker Donald Harrison selected this art work as inspiration for an UMMA Many Voices project, he imagined a video alive with portraits of people engaging with the creative vision of Tyree Guyton and his evolving public art work in Detroit – The Heidelberg Project. With the help of Ann Arbor maker Robert Marshall, Harrison built a modular, mobile booth that Guyton then transformed with his art work:

The Heidelberg Project Mobile Photo Video Booth was publicly unveiled on June 23, 2013 in Detroit at The Heidelberg Project’s Family Fun Day. Harrison encouraged attendees to peer into the booth and see their faces transformed in real-time using chroma key VJ effects on a video screen. He collected more than 30 permission-based video portraits, which are sampled in this remix video:

The Heidelberg Project Mobile Photo Video Booth: Faces from Family Fun Day 6.23.13 from Donald Harrison on Vimeo.

The Heidelberg Project Mobile Photo Video Booth: Portraits Remix from Shadow Art Fair 7.20.13 from Donald Harrison on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for the final video at UMMA in Fall 2013!

17 films by 17 filmmakers. Video art works inspired by works of art.

7 Cylinders Studios produced the 2013 Many Voices video collection for the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Participants ranged in age from 14 – 59 and from experienced filmmakers to complete novices. The results represent an remarkable range of what’s possible within the spectrum of the moving image arts:

“Limited Aesthetic” by Donald & Martin from Many Voices UMMA on Vimeo.