THE PIX INTERNET DISTRIBUTION CENTER
This webpage represents the PIX Internet distribution center, which is a free Internet cinema for The PIX Project.
The PIX is a Portable, Interactive, eXperimental kiosk; this a picture of the PIX kiosk. The kiosk is designed as a small interactive freestanding unit with a touch-screen, housed in a self-contained, architectural structure, which houses a number of experimental video pieces. The video pieces provide the basis for the machine's internal database, and in conjunction with Max/MSP and Jitter software allow for an interactive experience. Based on a person's choices and input the machine edits together the video images using its programming.
The PIX kiosk has visited various locations in a variety of settings and will continue to visit more in the future. In the field, the PIX interacts with interested participants, and generates a unique moving PIXure every time an interaction occurs. This PIXure is instantly saved on an external hard drive via the computer. After a day in the field, the PIX kiosk's hard drive contains a large database of moving PIXures and these PIXures are then uploaded to this website.
At this site visitors are able to view any of the PIXures created and can even find the specific PIXure they created with their interaction experience while visiting the PIX kiosk. Through this website, the films will find a completely open and free distribution method in the public domain.
THE PIX FOR YOUR COMPUTER
The PIX For Your Computer is a CD-Rom version of the interactive programming found in the PIX kiosk, it allows you to experience the same interactive environment and create PIXures of your own just as if you had visited the PIX kiosk. For a copy of The PIX For Your Computer, contact brookedagnan@world.oberlin.edu. Currently, The PIX For Your Computer is only available for Macintosh users.
THE PIX KIOSK IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
If you would like to exhibit the PIX in a venue or location where you live or you know of a venue that would provide an interesting and safe location for the PIX kiosk, please contact brookedagnan@world.oberlin.edu.
CONCEPTS AND THEORIES BEHIND THE PIX
Why has experimental cinema been overlooked by the mainstream film community? Is it the fault of the corporately controlled exhibition and distribution system? Can new technologies help find a viable outlet and larger audience for experimental cinema? If audiences feel personally engaged with experimental cinema will they be more interested? Can new technologies re-invent the notion of collaboration? How will the collaborative nature of interactive technologies affect experimental cinema?
The PIX Project: Portable, Interactive, eXperimental confronts these questions; it is a piece of sculptural artwork and a cinematic experience simultaneously. The PIX is a camera, a developer, a projector, and a theater all in one, plus, it uses the Internet to allow for free and open distribution of its creations. The machine is its own production, exhibition, and distribution system—and seeks to attain equality for experimental cinema, while simultaneously questioning the notions of time, place, and space in regards to the social norms of cinematic experience. The PIX Film Project allows interested participants to become not only an audience member in an intimate, interactive setting, but more importantly a filmmaker for a brief moment, involved in the instantaneous creation of a unique film. Experimental films have remained mostly hidden from mainstream society behind the cloud of corporate-controlled production, distribution, and exhibition methods. This project uses the latest technologies, video tools, computer programming, and the Internet to bring innovative and interactive experimental cinema experiences to a larger audience. With these new technologies, and by using the Internet for free distribution, the PIX Film Project confronts boundaries and challenges facing experimental cinema in the age of new technologies and digital media.
THE PIX PROJECT COLLABORATORS
The PIX Project is a collaboration between Brooke Dagnan, Jenny Bernard, and Mario Corsetti.
The PIX Project is the conceptual artistic idea filmmaker Brooke Dagnan. She directed the project, created all of the videos--or moving PIXures--for the PIX, and oversaw all location installations. For her bio, please visit the BIO page on her main website.
Jenny Bernard-Merkowitz composed and created all of audio for The PIX Film Project. She is a composer whose mission is to make new music captivating and accessible to everyone. She writes both acoustic and electroacoustic music that incorporates influences from popular culture and music, hopefully appealing to trained musicians and non-musicians alike. Her music has been performed at the International Computer Music Conference and at the Third Practice Festival of Electroacoustic Music, among others. Recent works include a piece for euphonium and electronics commissioned by Lloyd Bone, and a collaboration with choreographer Shellie Cash and poet Janée Baugher that combines percussion, dance, and poetry. For more information on Jenny's work visit her current website: http://homepages.uc.edu/~bernarjf/
Mario Corsetti designed and built the PIX kiosk structure. He is a sculptor and designer working mostly with metals, ceramic, and wood; his work has been shown in a variety of galleries and spaces throughout Detrioit and Michigan. For more information on Mario's work visit his picassa gallery at: http://picasaweb.google.com/corsetti. Or to see some images from a recent exhibition visit: http://detroitarts.blogspot.com/2006/07/mario-corsetti-at-motor-city.html