Drew Browning
Drew Browning is an
electronic artist/designer whose work began with the video art movement of the
early '70s, including interactive video installations and video performances,
now focuses on interactive digital media and virtual reality. His work is
centrally about creating dialog about the issues of difference, about using the
power of technology to challenge viewer perspective, about calling attention to
what makes us human, and the human condition. He is also involved in research
and development of technology for persons with disabilities and universal
design. He is an Associate Professor of both Electronic Visualization and
Industrial Design and founder of the Design Visualization lab at the University
of Illinois at Chicago.
Recent commissions with Annette Barbier include the Chicago Cultural Center, 6th Annual Site
Unseen, for "Elevator Music" (2009), an audio installation
installed in an elevator at the Chicago Cultural Center, grapples with the
difference between two distinctly different views of disability; Bradley University, Slane
Scholar in Residence for "Stream-ing"
(2006), an interactive installation about the interdependent relationship of
people and the environment using the Illinois Waterway from Chicago to Peoria
as an interconnection metaphor; the United
States Vietnam Arts Program (USVAP formerly ArtSynergy)/Chicago
for "River of Many Sides" (2004), an interactive, multimedia
performance with two Vietnamese artists expressed their shared histories as
both artists and citizens of countries with a contentious history; the Museum of Science and Industry/Chicago
for "Waiting in Line" (2003), an interactive computer installation
engaging visitors in scientific principles through creative play.
Selected Video and
Computer Graphic work:
Sculptural installation; Browning, Barbier; Created while in residence at Prairie Center of the Arts in Peoria, Illinois, Approach uses motion data of two people, one in a wheelchair and one ambulating, coming together. This life size installation resides on a 75 foot fence adjacent to the Center’s building. With the giant processing plant Archer Daniels Midland in the background, it reminds us of human scale and presence in a highly industrialized environment. And it also speaks to the traces we leave behind us in our passage through life, knowingly or not. http://prairiecenterofthearts.blogspot.com/
Interactive
installation; Browning, Barbier; Puffing on a wind
sensor, the participant sees delightful responses in their self-image or video
clips. Exhibited at IDMAA Ideas, International Digital
Media Arts Association Conference, October 13-15th, 2011. http://www.idmaa.org/idmaa2011/
Video - length: 5 min.; Browning, Barbier; Winds of Change addresses the housing boom and bust as seen through a metaphorical window in a formerly modest neighborhood. Includes computer animation driven by statistical data and sound. To be exhibited at IDMAA (International Digital Media Arts Association Conference), October 13-15th, 2011. http://www.idmaa.org/idmaa2011/
Video - length: 4 min.; Browning; A wryly (and sometimes darkly) humorous investigation of this most private and contemplative of spaces and its metaphorical significance as vessel of life. From swimming in the primordial sea (or womb) to contemplating the generations through portraits in the mirror; from emerging through the pipes and from the faucet to meditating on memories found in the tiles, this work follows both an individual life and those elements of consciousness, growth and change common to all human beings.
Video - length: 2 min.; Browning, Barbier; "The American Dream" was projected on
the Emily Carr University of Art + Design building. In this typical suburban
neighborhood, each house has a secret, and each comment on our way of
life: our desire for privacy, the
difficulty of finding balance, the fragile nature of our illusions, and
ultimately the undermining of the American dream. Exhibited at v1b3 (Video in
the Built Environment) FALL 2010 SHELTER, IDMAA (International Digital Media
Arts Association Conference), November 4-6th, 2010. http://www.v1b3.com/projects/fall10.html
Site-specific Installation; Browning, Barbier; "Elevator Music", a commissioned audio installation installed in an elevator at the Chicago Cultural Center, grapples with the difference between two distinctly different views of disability: the medical model, which promotes the idea of cure and the political model, which accepts and celebrates disability as an identity. It replaces the traditional easy-listening music with commentary and analysis using writings, interviews and documentary sounds of disabled rights activists and the medical, media and fundraising communities. So the elevator, a place of passage particularly adapted to the needs of the disabled, also becomes a site for the movement from definition by others to self-definition. http://unreal-estates.blogspot.com/ http://www.dcatheater.org/siteunseen2009
Site-specific Installation; Browning, Barbier; Exhibition of "Search Terms", an interactive installation that critiques ubiquitous surveillance, tracking visitors' movements as they explore "dangerous" and "suspicious" book listings and including surreptitious views of gallery visitors projected on the gallery floor.
“You Are
Here” ©2006
Site-specific Installation; Browning, Barbier;
"You Are Here" was projected onto the facade of the gallery building
taking live image information from the nearby expressway to create an
abstracted meditation on our frenetic pace of travel. The title of the work
plays on the common kiosk guide map dot and familiar spiritual phrase "Be
Here Now" (Ram Dass), reflecting on the pace of
our existence and gently questioning whether our obsession with speed is really
getting us anywhere. Viewed from the Kennedy Expressway
(I-94) at North Ave, Chicago.
“Stream-ing” ©2006
Interactive installation; Browning, Barbier, Ferolo; “Stream-ing" is
about the interdependent relationship of people and the environment. The
Illinois Waterway from Chicago through Peoria, which includes the Chicago and
Illinois rivers, is the metaphor for this interconnectedness. Exhibited at the Fifth Annual Discovery Forum, Peoria, IL, and
WTVP, Central Illinois's public television station. Produced
as Slane Scholar in Residence at Bradley University,
Peoria, IL.
“Preserving
Disorder” ©2005
Flanked by the former Chicago Police Headquarters at 11th and State and the anti war protests at Michigan Ave, "Preserving
Disorder", an interactive sidewalk installation at 11th and Wabash,
recalls the images and dynamics of the summer of '68 in Chicago. University
Film and Video Association Conference (UFVA) August 2005.
“Path of the
Dragon” ©2005
The river journey is the form of this installation in which a participant is a
traveler in a mythic voyage through the ages of a nation, Vietnam. Beginning at
dawn, the participant navigates through three levels: a past lived close to
nature, a time of horrific upheaval and violence, and a time of adapting and
rebuilding. University Film and Video Association Conference (UFVA) August 2005
and Gosia Koscielak Gallery
April/May,.2006.
“Wave Harmonies” ©2005
Interactive Installation; Browning, Barbier.
"Wave Harmonies", an interactive installation that represents the
visual world in terms of waveforms, "International Digital Media and Arts
Association Conference 2005", Orlando, FL, Juried exhibition March 16-19,
2005; AWARDED Second Place. For more information: Wave Harmonies.htm.
“River
of Many Sides” ©2004
Interactive, multimedia performance; Browning, Barbier,
Krinkle, Minh Ngoc, Quoc Thao. Commissioned by United States Vietnam Arts
Program (USVAP formerly ArtSynergy), River of Many
Sides addresses issues of violence and its effects. In June of 2003, five
artists embarked on a journey of collaboration and understanding that began
with travels to one another's countries and that culminated in the performance:
River of Many Sides. Each of the
artists has profound personal and cultural associations to our countries'
intertwined histories. For more information http://iam.colum.edu/abarbier/ROMSwebdoc/ROMSprospectus.htm.
“Waiting in
Line” ©2003
Interactive Installation; Browning, Barbier.
Commissioned by the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago, "Waiting In Line" is an interactive computer installation of
visually rich, graphical representations of waveforms. The exhibit encouraged those waiting in
line for tickets in the Great Hall to participate in creating a series of Lissajous figures, a pattern of lines which may be familiar
from science fiction movies of the 1950's.
The images were displayed on a large-scale screen. Guests used sheets of colored paper to
control the horizontal and vertical frequencies of the complex, changing
patterns. For more information: http://www.msichicago.org/scrapbook/scrapbook_events/experiments/.
“Homeland
Insecurity” ©2003
Interactive web3D; Browning. This suite of works addresses our national
paranoia inspired by the events of 9/11.
The pieces collectively respond to our need for security and our fear of
exposure in a threatening climate.
The touch screen (installation mode) allows the viewer to put his finger
on the source of our discomfort; the act of touching makes the viewer complicit
in creating our collective malaise. Installed at the
University Film and Video Conference (UFVA) 2003, University of South Carolina.
For the complete interactive web3D work visit http://www.evl.uic.edu/drew/HI
“HOME”
©2001
Interactive web3D; Browning, Barbier. Home is
an interactive work-in-progress which explores various concepts of home by
allowing the viewer to move through a virtual building created in the computer.
The action of moving through the space calls up images, stories, movies,
animations and sounds contributed by writers and artists in music, film, and
graphic art on the meaning and nature of home. Since 1999 HOME has been installed
in over a dozen exhibitions.
“Disability
Perspective #1” ©1997
Interactive web3D; Browning. The newly built Franklin Delano Roosevelt
National Monument serves as a focal point for this immersive experience which
addresses issues germane to the disabled community and to representation of
minorities in general. Virtual Spaces exhibited at ISEA Inter-Society for
the Electronic Arts 1997
“Disability
Activism” ©1991
Video - length: 12 min.; Browning; Documentary in style, this videotape covers
an eight year span of personal activism in the Disability Rights Movement.
Significant to the approach was a desire to look at the Movement from inside.
At times this perspective proved to be at odds with my participation as an
activist while at other times it proved to be a tool for empowerment, changing
the course of events.
“Louis
Sullivan: The Function of Ornament” ©1986
Video - length: 7 min.; Barbier, Browning; Produced
for the Chicago Historical Society. Promoting the exhibit "Louis Sullivan:
The Function of Ornament" at the Chicago Historical Society, this tape
shows some of Sullivan's themes and sources, using computer graphics to clarify
some of his basic concepts.
“Now or Later” ©1984
Video - length: 5 min., Co-produced with Barbier, Moyemont, and Skura. A series of
video dance/performance "sketches" leading to the production of
"Chase Scene," the performance.
“So
To Speak” ©1981
Video - length: 16 min.; Co-produced with Barbier, Moyemont, and Kast. Based on the video/dance performance "So To Speak."
This videotape combines the elements of the original videotape created for the
performance with the live dance into a new multi-layered entity using digital
and analog effects to achieve a synthesis.
“Stereopticon
III” ©1979
Video - length: 20 min.; Co-produced with Barbier, Moyemont, Fahrenwald, and Gerber.
Improvisational Video/Dance works which are sometimes dark and spare, sometimes
spacious and soaring. Produced live, involving two camera
people, two musicians, a video artist, and a dancer all with a common focus --
the video monitor. BEST VIDEOTAPE AND HONORS AWARD
Eighth Annual Dance Video and Film Festival; New York, June, 1979.
“SRAM Rap” ©1979
Video - length: 20 min.; Co-produced with Barbier.
Documentation of a childrens' video play produced for
the Chicago Artists in Residence Program featuring live video effects on stage
as a character in the play. Performed throughout the summer
of 1979 at: Chicago Public Library Cultural Center, Chicago, and Walt Disney
Magnet School, Chicago.
“Trilogy” ©1978
Video - length: 8 min.; Co-produced with Barbier.
Early Video/Dance works produced live, exploring movement of a dancer in
counterpart with movement created by video and computer graphic technology. ONE
OF TEN PRIZE-WINNING VIDEOTAPES Videotape: The Meaning is the Use;
Bergman Gallery, University of Chicago, Chicago, May, 1978
“Nancy
Drew Patch” ©1974
A pioneering work in Video/Dance performed in real time. One of the first works
produced in color on the Sandin Image Processor.
Selected papers on
Design for People with Disabilities:
·
"Virtual Reality and Accessible Transit Design, The UIC / CTA New Access Methods Project" (1995)
Using visualization technologies, the DVL assisted the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in developing alternative access methods to rapid transit stations for people with disabilities.
·
"Input Interfacing to the CAVE by Persons with
Disabilities" (1994)
This paper describes the development of specialized interfaces for virtual environment exploration by people who use wheelchairs. These real, tangible interfaces are intuitive and most appropriate for wheelchair simulations.
(QuickTime
movie 610K) 
(QuickTime
movie 557K)
·
"Projection-Based Virtual Environments and
Disability" (1993)
This paper describes the use of a projection-based virtual reality (VR) interface (the CAVE) for persons with disability.
·
"Legged Mobility, A Wheelchair Alternative" (1988)
This research project was not funded beyond a prototype stage. The prototype was full scale and walked in the laboratory in October, 1988 with a simple linear gait. It did not carry a passenger. The power supply, electronics and computer were off board, connected by wire. The prototype has since been dismantled for other research at the VA.
"LEGS,
Legged Electromechanical multiply-Gaited Superchair"
(c)1987
Videotape length: 5 min.; Browning, Song, Trimble; Presented at "RESNA
`87," (Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America), San Jose, CA,
June 19-23, 1987. A computer animation of a wheelchair
alternative. This first model of the walking chair is shown climbing
stairs, raising and lowering, and walking in a straight level gait. Here are
links to the various animated gaits:
Level Gait 1 (QuickTime 36K); Level Gait 2 (QuickTime 65K); Stair Climb 1 (QuickTime 33K); Stair Climb 2 (QuickTime 49K); Raise & Lower 1 (QuickTime 33K); Raise & Lower 2 (QuickTime 33K)