Graham Smith
Graham Smith (CA/NL) is an artist and inventor.
Graham Smith [foto © Jan Sprij]
Graham Smith is an internationally acclaimed Canadian artist-inventor who has been exploring the boundaries between art and science since the early 1980's through his robotic, virtual reality, photographic and telepresence artworks and research projects. His work intersects the boundaries between the scientific and cultural worlds by mixing cutting edge university research, technological inventions (he currently holds 5 patents) and innovative media artworks.
From 1993 to 1995 he directed the VRAAP program (Virtual Reality Artist Access Program) at the world famous McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto where he explored the message behind this new medium thus acting out McLuhan's theory that artists are like a cultural DEW Line (Distant Early Warning) for society who's artworks provide an image of the uses these technologies will have in the future. While at the program Mr. Smith combined videoconferencing and robotics in the worlds first series of telepresence artworks which were exhibited at the Venice Biennale, in front of the White House in Washington and at the Trevi Fountaion in Rome.
Smith's current projects include:
Cybercity The Third Eye/3rd I A series of educational urban planning and robotic telepresence artworks that will be exhibited as a TWINS2010 project, part of the Ruhr2010 in Essen Germany and in conjunction with V2_ for the Dutch Culture Center at the Expo2010 in Shanghai. www.cybercityruhr.com
Webchair A decade long project to link critically ill children from home to school using videoconferencing and telepresence technologies to help heal the disease of isolation. www.webchair.com
Emotion Chair A 3 year research effort with Ryerson University in Toronto that simulates the emotional effects of sound for deaf people by utilizing a "multi modal" interface technique. This work was presented in Test_Lab: Multi_Modal on February 21, 2008 at V2_. www.asid.ryerson.ca
Intersection An interactive "time machine" that recreates areas around the Berlin Wall from 1988 to 2009 that consists of a 36 meter long interactive video installation that will be premiered at Transmediale in Berlin 2010. www.telepresenceart.com/intersection
