I’m certain that anyone who attended Artists & Models and played
with the interactive exhibit Disturbance, left with questions for Tim
Scaffidi. He’s a leader in the area for emerging technologies; a hybrid
of all things science, technology and arts. I wanted to interview Tim as
soon as we met. By the time we scheduled a meeting, I already had a
million burning questions rolling around inside my head, but when I
entered his studio and saw the small exhibit set up just for me, my
questions flew out the window and I was left fumbling for words.
The computer screen showed Tim and I spinning and swirling, a screen
showed the clock behind it distorted and behind schedule, and another
screen displayed a pendulum broken into sections, swaying at an
alternate speed than the actual pendulum. Enjoy the videos while reading
through the interview.
Sculpture with Clock and Time from Timothy Scaffidi on Vimeo.
Buffalo Rising: What
am I looking at here?
Tim Scaffidi: This is part of the series called Time
Dissection and these [wall sculptures] are the most recent developments.
The series originally began as this software that was supposed to be an
installation where the viewer or user would see themselves as a wall
projection. I had it installed at Squeaky Wheel for a bit and it will
rotate and move around faster, the more you move.
There’s a camera that’s watching, in this case, a time piece. If you
think about every frame that the camera is capturing, the frames have
an X and Y, width and height. When you stack these frames all on top of
each other, you’ve got this presentation here (above). And what the
software is doing, is acting as a knife and sort of cutting that cube of
layers at any arbitrary angle. Then we’re looking at what that cross
section is, so that’s why you get these weird patterns.
With the pendulum, it isn’t in the same place because part of the
transformation you’re doing is actually shifting the time axis into the
physical dimensions.
Disturbance at Hallwalls’ Artists & Models: Stimulus from Timothy Scaffidi on Vimeo.
BR: Where ever did you get the idea for this?
TS: The inspiration
for my ideas come from watching things in nature. Well, not necessarily
watching, because it’s hard for us to watch time. But that’s why I
wanted to make this series, so I could get a different perspective on
time.
Specifically for Artists & Models, that installation came from
looking at water and when you move through water how ripples happen. It
was an experiment in seeing how really low level stuff, like particles,
work. So I had to model a physics simulation around particle physics
where two particles come closer together and repel if they’re too close.
They hit and then bounce off, like a spring.
BR: So the process start with a formula, then you write software that
does the same thing, then build an installation around it?
TS: That’s
where I’ve been starting from, although it doesn’t have to be a formula,
it can be a scientific idea or something in nature I’m interested in
learning more about, like Disturbance. I was interested in how, when we
move our bodies through air, we don’t get to see all the stuff
happening. When we wave our hand through the air there’s all these
little molecules trailing your hand.
Sculpture with Pendulum and Time from Timothy Scaffidi on Vimeo.
How long does it take you to develop a project like this?
I’ve been
developing it for a long time – I’d say three years and it’s gone
through several different iterations. But Artists & Models was the
first time I’ve ever shown [Disturbance] and been satisfied with how it
turned out.
I always work concurrently on projects and I don’t really get too
dedicated to one at a time where I would think ‘I’m done with it’. The
sculptures are finished only because I had already done the software
part of it. With coding, you might hit a wall and not know what to do
with it or need to research some equation and that might inspire you to
do a completely different project.
BR: Because your work is really cross-genre and it can be formed in
any
space, do you think you have an advantage as to where you can exhibit
and how your work can be used?
TS:The type of stuff I do it’s easy for me to branch out to different
organizations. I was able to develop my whole portfolio for applying to
school while working here in Buffalo. And I feel like I’m starting to
move more into the real world and less on the virtual stuff. My time
dissection pieces are a good example of me trying to bridge the physical
and virtual together. My future projects will have roots on the
computer and algorithmic design, but actually be in the physical world. I’ve
been thinking less and less about interactive stuff and more sculpture
oriented pieces. I don’t want to be known as the guy who only does crazy
interactive things.
BR: Are most of these part of a thesis
project for your study at UB?
TS: I am working on a thesis and
haven’t hammered it out completely yet, but I know it’s going to have
something to do with time and maybe quantum mechanics. The other piece
I’m currently working on has to do with quantum mechanics and chaos; how
quantum particles could flip or flop. There’s a theory that says there
could be multiple universes and every time a quantum particle does
something chaotic it’s either this universe or that one and so it
branches off a new universe. It would seen there are infinite universes
with all these possibilities. I’m going to try to visualize that
concept.
BR: Did you know in undergrad that you wanted to mix your science
background with arts?
TS: In undergrad I did start computer science
but my second semester I declared an art major as well. Ever since then
I’ve been trying to meld the two worlds together.
BR: Explain your specific area of study.
I’m in the emerging
practices concentration and that basically means that we don’t really
want to define what we do! We’re resisting any sort of defined terms. We
don’t want to say that we only use one medium, we take anything we can
get our hands on and use it.
BR: What’s your view on the intersection of technology and creativity
and how they play into our modern world? Do have a hard time combining?
TS: It’s
necessary, it’s all new and it comes naturally to me. Ever since I can
remember I was drawing, but my Dad was a software programmer so there
were always computers around, too. I didn’t really get into programming
until high school, but I’ve been doing it ever since, modifying video
games, writing levels, all stuff that combines the two on things used
commonly.
DIY PCB Fabrication from Timothy Scaffidi on Vimeo.
BR: Have
you sold any software you’ve written or released any publicly?
TS: I
haven’t written anything that I would consider releasing to the general
public because a lot of the stuff is for my own personal use and the
code is too messy. I don’t spend any time on interface design so it’s
not usable for most people.
There is that one we first spoke about, the video of us. That
software I’m developing and trying to figure out how to release publicly. I’ve set one of the other grad students up here with it. He’s
really into documenting himself and what he’s been up to. There are
cameras hung all over his studio and when you run the software it
automatically generates a time lapse. If there’s a lot of movement going
on, it slows down to real time, but if there’s nothing happening then
it will speed up so you don’t have to sit there watching nothing. Then
if you have multiple cameras it will auto-cut to the correct camera
depending on where you are and how much motion is in each frame.
BR: Have any large companies been vying for your attention yet?
TS: Not
really, there was one place in NYC that contacted me, their name is
Interaction Lab at Rockwell Group and they do a lot of crazy event
stuff. They’ll make a giant interactive installation at a party or
corporate event for Pepsi, etc. We’ll see where that goes.
—-
Laura Duquette is a former ballerina who now dances with words
and punctuation. She has a knack for asking questions faster than the
speed of sound, and her interviews are often off the cuff and personal.
She is Co-Owner of 12 Grain
Studio, a Buffalo based creative firm that gives typical web design a
kick in the ass.