Art and Technology Collide at Digital Arts Expo

The 2017 Digital Arts Expo takes place at CalArts on May 4.

CalArts’ 2017 Digital Arts Expo (DAE), which takes place at the Institute Thursday (May 4), allows guests to see and experience the future through creatively adventurous and technologically imaginative new works created by students, alumni and guest artists across all art disciplines.

For the first time, the Digital Arts Expo presents two panel discussions. Digital Dialogue 1 Feet First: Artists as Industry Interns is at 6 pm, and Digital Dialogue 2: VR Visionaries is at 8:30 pm. Both talks are in the Sharon Disney Lund Dance Theater.

The daylong expo, which is open to the public, features experimental works of art and science. Aesthetics and artistry are combined with engineering and computer science to reflect the latest practices in technologically sophisticated arts. Attendees are much more than viewers or an audience—many of the projects are interactive installations.

Project highlights of the 2017 DAE include:

• Mobile technologies for music performance,
• Living Room VR: new forms of networked storytelling that leverage existing consumer-level devices,
• The Musical Octopus and other creative expressions of bio-design,
• Interactive environments in the hall of installations, and
• New additions to CalArts’ celebrated Machine Orchestra of robotic instruments.

In addition to the installations, the DAE also includes performances throughout the day and evening in A300 (percussion room) and the Roy O. Disney Concert Hall (ROD).

The DAE opens at 2 pm, and the projects and installations will remain on view through 10 pm. The performances continue through the wee hours of the morning.

Visit the Digital Arts Expo website for the full schedule of events.