Douglas R. Siefken, TransLumen Technologies
Chicago New Media Summit : Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 : 1:30 pm : Art & Design
The Talk: Doug Siefken will describe Ambient Video Art as an emergent art movement. He will show ambient art examples conveying how video art combined with technology can be appreciated on the proliferation of digital canvasses. The depth of this art expression transcends both the temporal spectrum as well as the visual. Doug will explore how technology contributes to bridging art video and stills that combine with the environment to create a non-disruptive art form.
Doug Siefken has 35 years experience advancing next generation imaging and software development. Doug began his career as a combat/aerial photographer for the US Navy during the Vietnam War where along with active service, managing photographic naval labs among other roles, investigated high speed and slow motion photography and cinematography to establish the roots of his imaging patents decades later. Since the Navy, he has provided digital imaging consulting services for Kodak and Adobe, helped launch a major microcomputer for Litton and developed one of the first multi-media cross-platform digital portfolios as President of Cyber City Tours, a cutting-edge media publishing and content provider for Unicom, Cahners Publishing and others.
Today he is a founder, inventor and Chief Technology Officer for TransLumen Technologies with patents obtained for graphic imaging algorithms that are incorporated in the visualization sectors of defense and aerospace applications and in next generation visual media through TransLumen’s Fluid Stills® brand. Not only has Doug participated in think tank strategies for Boeing and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in applying graphic technology to cognitive performance; he is an early pioneer of the ambient video art movement. His first public exhibit of the Fluid Stills® art form sponsored by SONY on 02/02/02 at the Julia Friedman Gallery in Chicago. A version of Doug’s Fluid Stills® Chicago Skyline series was installed at the Hotel Cass, Chicago in August of 2007. In 2008 Chicago’s Mayor Daley was flanked by two images from that series on large screens at a luncheon. Fluid Stills® currently has a strong Internet presence demonstrating its artistic uniqueness for creating serene, temporally streaming subthreshold ultra-slow motion videos. This tranquil and harmonious art form obviates the visual noise and environmental disruption presented by other digital art alternatives.
On CNMS: I would like Chicago to become the New Media Capital, integrating innovation to build a cohesive collaborative technology and arts community. With this convergence and with critical mass, companies like TransLumen will become contributors to a new world view. This will fuel economic momentum in this space for all.
On Doug: “Doug Siefken’s sub-threshold ambient video creations embody the fusion of art and cutting-edge technology, coalescing into some of the most satisfying and engaging art ever before witnessed on a digital display.”
Sally Metzler, Ph.D.