30000fps is an anonymous Berlin based visual artist working within the confines of one to two second animated loops that produce a wide range of optical and emotional sensations upon viewing. We got in touch to find out more about the unidentified creative behind the site.

Why did you start the site?
30000fps was initially a side project of mine, and I still treat it more like a sketchbook than anything else, a place where I can post experiments in visual loop making. I come from a graphic design and fine arts background and over the last few years started moving more toward animation and video. I’ve always been a curious person and a lot of the works stem from asking simple questions like – what would it look like to stand inside a perfectly mirrored sphere? What would you see? I take that approach with all of my animations.

I try to stay focused on some of the themes that interest me, but it’s a long list. Mainly futurology – space travel, artificial intelligence, and nostalgia for obsolete technology. I’m also inspired by many early works of op-art, light art, video art, plus different optical and physical phenomena like the ganzfeld effect, interference patterns, cymatics, schlieren photography…

Over time the site has sort of taken on a life of its own and now has a small following, but in the beginning it wasn’t as active. The name has to do with my interest in optics and imaging technology, including high speed photography. 30000fps is an effect best seen in real life – http://goo.gl/WP3XCA.

As much as I enjoy working digitally, I’m also inspired a lot by the real world. Lately I’ve been aiming to make loops that you can watch for longer periods of time, trying to emulate real sensations like the light reflecting off of waves in a river or lake, or the feeling of flying through the air or traveling through space. Certain seamless loops can produce strange afterimages while others have a hypnotizing effect – especially when you can’t tell where the loop point is.  They almost exist outside of time. There’s a certain power in that.

Aside from making gifs, one of my goals is to get more involved in some of the new developments in augmented and virtual reality. The idea of VR was just a tease when I was younger (PowerGlove), but seems like it’s about to bring about a very big shift in the coming years. I think the perceived border between the digital world and the real world is collapsing and it will be really fascinating to see where things are headed.

08.04.2015

10.04.2015

What’s your day job?
Right now I work as a freelance motion and graphic designer, so I’m usually dreaming up animations or doing some print design on the side (books and records). But I always come back to 30000fps. I have to say I’m really humbled every day by the following that the site has gained, and it’s thanks to everyone that stops by and shares the images or writes to me that keeps it going.

There will be a new series involving light and refraction coming out later in the year, an edition of prints available for sale, and also more new stuff coming out on 30000crt and regular posts at 30000fps. Stay tuned!

Favourite animation:
Powers of Ten: A Film Dealing with the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero by Charles and Ray Eames.

Favourite Wikipedia pages:
Timeline of the far future | Extraterrestrial Skies | Tesseracts | Simulation hypothesis | Eternal Return | Schlieren photography

Follow 30000fps on Tumblr here.

More: Website

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Want to read more Q&As with creatives? Find them here.

As graduation season draws closer, we’re mentally preparing ourselves once again to spend our lunchtimes and evenings combing through CVs and portfolios, hoping to find the graduates most likely to cut it in a branding agency.

And while we’re excited to see how the newest thinkers and doers tackle creative writing, designing and programming wizardry, there still seems to be a gaping hole in their portfolios. And it’s to do with branding.

Most creative courses occupy a grey area somewhere in-between academia and vocational training. The main issue with this is that the science of human behaviour – how people think, how they interact with brands and why they respond to them – is neatly avoided. And when you look through student portfolios, it shows.

Tayburn’s new placement programme starts with a creative test (downloadable here). Any placements brought on board will get a scary dip in the DeepEnd – two months paid employment working with planners, project managers and directors to solve difficult real life branding problems.

Simply put, it’s about helping fill a gap. For the young and hopefuls entering the industry, it’s the only way to find out whether they’ll sink or swim.

Deadline: ongoing

For more information see the Tayburn website.

More: Website | Twitter | Google + | Instagram

Alpha-ville launches EXCHANGE – a new series of events designed to give the London art, tech and creative communities the opportunity to connect, exchange ideas, get inspired and discover new talent.

The concept “EXCHANGE” underlines the notion of crossing talents and further connecting the frontiers of artistic expression with design and technology. The first of the series takes place on Friday 17 January 2014 at Rich Mix Cinema and Arts Centre and brings together some of the world’s most talented artists, creatives and designers of today to talk about their practice, influences and recent works.

“Energy Flow _ Life” (print) by Field.

The first set of artists include: Eno Henze, Field, Onformative, Quayole and Shantell Martin with more to be announced soon.

EXCHANGE 1 features a day programme packed with presentations, talks and social events alongside a music programme in the evening for attendees to network and enjoy. Work will be presented across: motion graphics, graphic design, illustration, interaction design, generative design, digital and software art, mixed media art, data visualisation and more. Professionals from across the arts, culture, digital media and creative industries spectrums are welcome to attend.

For more information, go here. To book your tickets, visit here.

More: Website | Facebook | Twitter

The Wrong – New Digital Art Biennale opens its “online” doors here, and in a more relaxed pace, its “AFK” (away from keyboard) doors in more than ten different cities around the world.

The Wrong aims to create, promote and push positive forward-thinking contemporary digital art to a wider audience worldwide through a biennial event that gathers the best selected by the best, while embracing the young talents of today’s digital art scene.

A team of 30 top curators/artists have featured what they like best in the new digital art world. The biennial is divided into pavilions; virtual spaces in which selected works are exhibited. In total, there are 30 online pavilions, including an “unlimited” pavilion open to public participation and a “meta” pavilion exclusively featuring the artwork of the curators. More than 300 artists have been invited officially, to have their work featured in the pavilions, and several hundreds are still applying until the end of the event to participate in the “unlimited” open pavilion. The Wrong is the only free biennial that is fully accessible both to participate and to attend.

The open public unlimited pavilion (aka Homeostasis Lab) displays a selection of artwork submissions where artists interested in participating in the event, but who were not invited by any curator, can submit to the two curators assigned specifically to this space. An open call will run until the last day of the event, allowing everyone interested to have a chance to submit their work also during the event. The content of this pavilion will be curated by Julia Borges Araña + Guilherme Brandão and renewed everyday until last day of the biennial. Visit the Homeostasis Lab for to submit your work.

Selected highlights from the curators’ pavilion:

Gallery404 is an open source browser-based 3D art gallery.

And one day, boom: the pavilion of exploded reality! is an augmented reality experience.

Triangulation is a blog about net.art, computer graphics and video.

That was your dog, 2012 by Sebastian Buerkner

Wilderness of Mirrors is a collection of online works curated by Max Hattler.

The curators’s pavilion curator, David Quiles Guilló, is also the creative director of the The Wrong, and found guilty of selecting the 30 curators of the biennial. He is the founder and creative director of ROJO®, the art joint responsible for putting this biennale together, from initial ideas to getting everyone on board, to design, production and full media communication of the event, until its last consequences.

At the very end of the biennial, The Wrong Book will be launched, compiling a selection of the best digital artwork submitted by all participants to specifically appear printed in this book. Due to the very nature of the event, The Wrong Book’s binding will be done in “random mode”, meaning that each and every copy will be unique. It will be available for orders online on January 2014.

The Wrong is, as David Quiles Guilló puts it; “A large gathering of creative individuals, inside a virtual environment, speaking the highest form of human communication; ART”.

The Biennale runs until 31 December 2013.

What:
Kurt Schwitters’ art is an inspiration to many artists. He named his distinctive found material ‘Merz’, after a fragment of the German word ‘Commerzbank’. MerzBank is an online repository of artists’ works who have all taken inspiration from Schwitters.

Newly commissioned works by Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard and Alec Finlay can be found on the site. Reflecting Schwitters’ style, these works combine and communicating images, texts and sounds. Using various different social media platforms such as Pinterest to find and assemble material, or experimenting with other digital media such as downloads and apps, the pieces demonstrate how Schwitters’ practice continues to inspire today’s artists.

MerzBank is produced by Film and Video Umbrella and supported by Arts Council England.

Why we like it:
The website is full of mixed media artworks including sound pieces, dowloadable pdfs, films, posters and more. Go explore here.

More:
Website | Twitter

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For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

Sabine Bein  – BA (Hons) Design for Digital Media

Sabine work was a real stand out. Her 3D and After-Effects projects were of a well polished standard that easily translates to professional standards and expectations.
Use of colour, tone, fonts and layout were all well considered with a beautiful grasp of balance and tone, executed with a resolute neatness that is always the mark of great graphic design.  Sabine’s fictional idents for Channel 5 and typographical style visuals for a fictional documentary on 1950’s fashion were standout pieces in particular.
With such quality being produced at this level it’s exciting to think what will be produced when these skills are applied to future ventures.  We will watch this space (and our televisions’) to keep an eye out for just such ventures…..

Kevin Cameron – BA (Hons) Visual Communication

Kevin’s work stood out for a number of reasons.  The most important being something that we hail highly within our own department – the idea.  Kevin’s work was prolific with ideas.  From conceptual to commercial there was a good run of consistency running through his output for the year.  Coupled with the idea is the inventiveness.  Perfectly demonstrated by his Becks beer bottle top idea (fig1) to help promote responsible drinking and deter drink driving.  A clever idea and simple execution which could easily be adopted by the brand at little cost.
Another highlight was Kevin’s magazine cut outs.  Characters in editorial illustrations were carefully cut out and propped up with a single carefully placed pin to create  depth of field and subsequently bring the images to life in a playfully delicate way.

But what also made Kevin’s work stand out was the volume.  There was much to look at with several inflections of multiple projects on show; all consistent in quality, ability and examination of the subject.  Such tenacity and exploration will see Kevin continue to discover and create brilliant work as he exits the fold of university.

Shona Hutson – BA (Hons) Print Making

Shona’s work is distinctive.  Heavy, bold lines make up blocked prints composed of outline shapes layered and built upon to create a composite image.  Interestingly some of her work features different materials to add texture and colour to the various components – most notably her ‘chair’ composition.  The feel is graphical but seemingly organic like a gentle form of pop art.  Her wall design which took up much of a corridor would be at home in Berlin.  Her work in approachable with (quite literally) many angles to study and appreciate with each view.  The style will lend itself to many other subjects in years to come.  It would be interesting to see them as they come together.

Seila Sysberg & Johanna Lyczko – BA (Hons) Photographic & Electronic Media

Tucked behind the sculpture section was a wall of large photograph prints.  The space was probably ideal as the lengthy, mostly uncluttered approach to the work allowed them to be undiluted by other pieces hoping attract eyes and interest.  But even amongst a busy set of images these particular group of images would stand out with ease.  With unusual subject matter that leans on surrealism, these images invite wonder and debate.   But far from mere concept, the execution of the images merits praise and admiration.  Some images have been captured in a light that has pushed the camera’s gain control settings.  Far from the purist’s taste the grain is evident but bestows softness to the image that from a distance makes it look like a fine details pastel drawing.  A particular favourite was the ‘Octopus’ image.  A naked model displays two octopus (or should that be octopi?) carcasses which drape over the shoulders and down the models back.  The image is both striking and stark in equal measure.  The colour palette that makes up the composition of the scene agrees with perfectly with each other.  The meaning of the image is elusive and presumes to be questioned.  It may question society’s use of animals for fashion purposes, or it may be an attempt to discover beauty in the seemingly ugly, or it may just be a really interesting image.  Whatever conclusion you arrive at the image is hugely enjoyable on many levels.
Another interesting aspect to this work is that it is the work of two artists.  Both working in partnership to discover, explore and capture ideas and concepts; unusual but ultimately in our eyes, successful.

Nicola Walster BA (Hons) 3DD Ceramics/Glass/Jewellery

Tucked away in the Porto cabin section was the ceramics and glass section.  It should be he said that all displays were high commendable with some beautifully fashioned objects on display.
However, there was one set of pieces that exhibited particular beauty and splendour.
Nicola Walster’s work consisted of hand carved stone shapes and vases. The control and flow of the etched linear patterns that laced the objects had the ethereal charm of ancient Nordic artefacts.  But where each creation evoked a spirit of history it was annulled by the modernity of shape or features such as the flaking split that tears down the side of a series of vases.  The rugged splits seemingly natural at first sight but betrayed by the uniformity of reproduction that suggests that it was the hand of the artist that imbued the aesthetic of the design.
Each of Nicola’s pieces resonates with the tactile craft, skill and rarefied technique.  All could claim to be classics and each will find their way into homes to be prized or gallery plinths to be enjoyed by the masses.  Beautiful work.

Other work that caught our attention on a big was Craig Harpers’ paintings, Elizabeth Legges’ plaster reliefs, Hannah Malones’ red string instillation, Mark Rennies dark drawings & paintings,  Marion Leipers’ prints and Jade Murrays paintings.  All great work.

http://www.stvcreative.com/

 by John Gibb at Edinburgh screenWORKS

In the spirit of shared ideas and collaboration I’m going to borrow an analogy from software developer Brad Neuberg, the founding father of the coworking space. People everywhere go to bars. But they don’t talk to each other. Strangers stand around drinking their drinks, and they don’t talk to each other. People also go to house parties. But house parties are different. You might know one or two people there, or you might be faced with a roomful of strangers, but either way, people talk to each other. “People talk”, says Brad, “because of a shared context.” Shared context is what coworking space is all about.

Around the turn of the millennium, many modern workplaces underwent a strange new development: they no longer became necessary. For many professionals working in IT, software development, and digital media, the affordability of home computers and increased internet speeds made a day at the office a thing of the past. Who wants to schlep across town on public transport when you can work from home in your pants? While that may seem like a no-brainer, in reality the latter option proves not without its problems. For a start, the line between work and personal life becomes blurred and you’re faced with constant distractions while you are working, and constant reminders of work when you aren’t. Your house can cease to become a home. Then there is the lack of motivation; without the structure of the 9 to 5 many are prone to idle. But perhaps worst of all is the feeling of isolation. Your contacts dry up, you receive no input from co-workers, and you can end up feeling detached from the industry as a whole.

The alternative then, is to put your trousers on and get back out there. But if, like Brad, you don’t belong to any particular company then where do you go? The advent of the affordable laptop presented another option: the coffee-shop. Again, this is hardly ideal. You’re constantly buying food or beverages to justify your presence. You have to take your laptop with you every time you go to the bathroom. But also, you’re still lacking a sense of community, which is all the more depressing now, since ironically, you are working amidst a sea of people just like you. As Brad says, “coffee shops are just like bars.” In 2005, he came up with a solution to this predicament by renting space in a building and inventing a new word which would spawn an entire movement: coworking (no hyphen).

A coworking space functions similarly to the shared studio spaces long favoured by artists. More intimate than a coffee shop, it provides an office without the trappings of office life, and at a reasonable price too (coworks are often not-for-profits). People can come and go as they like, work, share ideas, and meet like-minded individuals. Built upon the values of collaboration, openness, community, accessibility and sustainability; it offers freelancers the opportunity to work independently, together. In short, everything that is beneficial about working for a company – social interaction, structure, access to free tea and biscuits – without actually working for a company. It offers users that shared context.

Coming into a coworking space to develop your projects tends to bring structure to your day and help motivate you to get things done. Being surrounded by people of like-mind, and having the encouragement and insight of others can only be a good thing too. Plus, there’s really no better way of finding new opportunities than to engage with as many people in your industry as you can.

It’s not surprising then, that coworking has taken off in such a big way. What is surprising though, is that what started out as a very tech-based work method has crossed over into so many different fields.  The Hat Factory, one of the first coworks set up in San Francisco in 2006, played host to mainly software developers and code writers like Brad. Now there exist coworking spaces for a whole range of specific industries, such as paragraph, a New York-based cowork, designed “by writers for writers”. At the same time, there are ones which offer an eclectic mix of people like IndyHall in Philadelphia, which states itself to be for “designers, developers, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, educators, small business owners, telecommuters, marketers, videographers, game developers, and more”.  It’s not just limited to the States either. To name but a few, there’s Bureaux in Melbourne, Raum betahaus in Berlin, and a flourishing coworking scene here in Britain, with locations such as THECUBE in London and The Hub in Bristol opening up all the time.

Edinburgh screenWORKS is a co-working space in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh, for those working in the screen and digital media industries. It provides quiet desk space, super fast wireless, locker storage, a postal address, free printing and a function room that can be booked for business meetings, etc. you can pay by the day or month and everything is covered even down to your free biscuits, tea and coffee. You just sign up for the time you need and get working. Check out our website for more info and get in touch to find out more and book a free trial day.

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SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for July and get all of August COMPLETELY FREE. Yes, it’s silly season at screenWORKS and the glorious sun has made us very generous.
Simply mention our ‘FREE MONTH CENTRAL STATION OFFER’ when you get in touch and you can sign up, claim your free month and get working. small print: Limited availability. 1 free month offer per person only.

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