Creative Loafing's Sensory Overload Art Party Goes Digital

march 18, 2009  11:04 am
Creative Loafing's Sensory Overload Art Party Goes Digital
For more information, contact London Fajkus at 813-739-4802 or london.fajkus (at) cln.com

SENSORY OVERLOAD 4.0
Sat. March 28, 9 pm-1 am
$10. 18+ The Honey Pot, Ybor City
cltampa.com/SensoryOverload
Sponsored by Creative Loafing and International Academy of Design & Technology


On March 28, 2009, from 9 p.m.-1 a.m., Creative Loafing brings its 4th annual art party to The Honey Pot, 1507 E. 7th Ave., Ybor City, Tampa. Sensory Overload 4.0 will envelop clubgoers in a whirl of digital art by professional and student artists, plus electronic music performances by Eliot Lipp (NY, Glitch Mob), Michna (Miami, NY, Ghostly International) and Soft Rock Renegades (Tampa). Two $1,000 student artist scholarships will be awarded during the evening. One will be chosen by a panel of judges, and the other by the public. Votes can be placed in advance at cltampa.com/SensoryOverload and during the event via Twitter. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at cltampa.com/SensoryOverload or at the door. All drink proceeds from the evening will benefit CLIP, Tampa Bay's gay and lesbian film festival.

SO 4.0 embraces a wide range of digital art, from animation to graphic design to video games. Creative Loafing visual art critic Megan Voeller is curating the professional offerings, which include projections by Illuminations 33701 (aka St. Petersburg graphic designer David Meek), who remixes live video feed with "urban textures" and graphic elements; Santiago Echeverry's World, a database of more than 1,900 cell-phone videos shot by the artist on three continents that recombine as users click on an interactive interface; architect Giancarlo Giusti's Occupiable Highways, a vision of the sustainable redevelopment of the I-275 corridor in the form of 3D renderings; modified video games by Deon Blackwell including reprogrammed Wii controllers that allow visitors to make music and an altered arcade console; Aaron David Cook & Julianna Stoll's Enlightened Chandelier, video projected onto an overhead wax paper screen; and drums_project_01 by Valerie George & Felecia Carlisle, a digital/analog "face-off" with sound and projected images.

The SO 4.0 student art competition attracted submissions from colleges and universities throughout Tampa Bay and Sarasota. Genres include video, animation, graphic design and illustration, and attendees at SO will be able to view the work on video screens throughout the Honey Pot to decide who will get their votes for the $1,000 audience award. The $1,000 jury winner will be selected by Amanda Cooper, curator of exhibitions at The Arts Center, and Chanse Chanthalansy, post-production director at Pyper Paul + Kenney.

Throughout the evening, students and faculty from the International Academy of Design & Technology will present live demos of digital art-making. Animation, graphic and interior design departments will all take part, with recording arts students providing audio throughout the night and coordinating music with artworks. IADT will also stage a live fashion and photo show with projection onto the models' bodies, in collaboration with Illuminations 33701 and the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. Audio Visions South is providing digital equipment for the event and raffling a flat screen, with proceeds to benefit CLIP Film Festival. The festival will be showing 21 years of film trailers on the flat screen to be raffled.

As usual, Sensory Overload coincides with the publication of the Creative Loafing Urban Explorer's Handbook. This year's issue, to be published March 25, will also have a digital theme, offering a comprehensive guide to the top websites, social networks and blogs in Tampa Bay.