It’s hard to imagine public art being anymore public than “Supernova,” the festival of digital animation hitting Denver this weekend. The event uses the massive, LED screens attached to large buildings downtown as its main forum. Eccentric and relentlessly eye-catching, the colorful, short projections are impossible to miss.
There will be plenty of them, about 138 works in all, according to fest director Ivar Zeile. The pieces range from 10 seconds to almost an hour, though most are about four or five minutes long.
“I think it’s one of the most innovative and singular experiences the city offers,” said Zeile. “I’m pretty sure nobody in the world has done something similar, and absolutely not at this scale.”
Digital animation remains a new and expanding field and most people probably couldn’t come up wth a simple definition for the genre. Artists dig deep into their psychic imaginations to create moving imagery and, because their medium is digital technology, they’re able to make just about anything they can dream up and program.
So, some pieces look like traditional, cartoon animation, while others rely on the manipulation of geometric forms. Some dig into organic earthiness while others travel into deep space. They can dwell on our primordial past or soar into the future. The can be narrative or totally abstract, though even the narrative ones tend play fast and loose with their timelines.
As technologists themselves, digital artists often explore the power of machinery, from futuristic factories to evolving robotics. But the work can be tender and human, as well, and is most interesting when it explores the connections between people and the machines they’ve created to make their lives better. That can be pleasant, of course, or it can be menacing.
The form itself, isn’t exactly new tot he city. Zeile and his team at Denver Digerati have been exploring it in small ways over the past five years. They’ve been collecting works discovered on the web and commissioning international artists to make new pieces, which have been showcased during a series of “Flash Friday” events in recent summers.
But those screenings lasted about an hour each. “Supernova” will have 11 hours of concurrent programming, and will feature past hits as well as works completely new to local viewers. The fare moves fast, so audiences can drop in and out of the event casually.
Two artists get a fest spotlight. The first is Jon Butler, who is based in Glasgow, Scotland, and used “3-D animation, motion capture, digital audio and text-to-speech applications” to create a series of dark, sci-fi video and sound narratives. The second is Los Angles artist Adam Ferris, who will screen “Condensed Energy,” which Zeile describes as “a slow-morphing depiction of known figures, from celebrities to politicians, who all devolve into bursts of black energy.”
“Supernova” will use the LED screens on 14th Street at both Champa and Arapahoe streets, but Denver Digerati is also setting up a sizable 10-by-20 foot screen inside the galleria of the Denver Performing Arts Center. While the street corner locations are generally enjoyed while standing, the DPAC site will allow for more leisurely viewing. Organizers are suggesting folks bring lawn chairs. There are plenty of restaurants nearby to get a meal or people can pack their own version of a picnic.
“Supernova” hopes to bring out a variety of viewers, including families who get a special program of kid-friendly fare at 6 p.m., and gamers likely drawn to a series of game-related shorts at 7 p.m. The fest culminates at 8 p.m. with a juried competition of new works, featuring an international lineup of digital artists.
But “Supernova’s” scale, is also likely to get spectators who come across it serendipitously. That part of downtown can be a busy place on weekend nights with both pedestrians and cars already in the neighborhood, ending days of work or starting nights on the town. In the past, people haven’t come out for Denver Digerati’s screenings as much as they have simply found themselves in the middle of them.
The flashing screens with their fantastical images, stop people in their tracks.
“There’s something very special to me about watching our audience, including those unsuspecting that they are part of the audience, hang out on the street corner and watch some of the best artists from all over the world,” said Zeile. “Without maybe even realizing who they are or what their greater context might be.”
IF YOU GO
“Supernova” runs from 4 p.m. to about 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, with digital animation presented on the LED screens on 14th Street at the corner of both Champa and Arapahoe streets, and in the galleria at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The event is free. Info supernovadenver.com.
