'Language of the Body' by Dr. Shelley Lake

 

The Cornel/Henry Art is thrilled to introduce Dr. Shelley Lake and her bold digital visual work. Dr. Lake is a graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS), Cleveland Chiropractic College (DC), and School of Visual Arts in New York (MFA). Her experimentation with art and technology began more than 40 years ago as she was the first female graduate of the Media Lab at MIT, where she pioneered studies in the fusion of science, art and technology. She is the winner of a Clio award, a Nicograph International Award, and is the Technical Director for The Last Starfighter, a 1984 American space opera film directed by Nick Castle.

 

"Language of the Body" is the story of her virtual family. We invite you to join inside this digital dollhouse to play a starring role along a fictional world of mythological characters, among imaginary shapes of experience and forces of nature expressed as action patterns in the body/mind. 

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"In our shared fantasy world of pure imagination, we may build bioenergetic bridges to learning, engagement, and transformation. Increased awareness of thoughts and emotions may give each of our lives greater meaning and purpose. Together, we may come to better understand our inner world. 

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Bioenergetics, technology, and aesthetics intersect on a virtual stage.

 

Bioenergetics engages physical, intellectual, and emotional curiosity, unlocking a door to the inner workings of the body/mind. Anatomy, the organic material that gives rise to our humanity—is the spiritual gateway to sensation, thought, and aesthetic experience. The ground of meaning begins with recognizing the action patterns of an organism and its relationship to the environment.

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Technology is the connective tissue—it is a mirror, it is a window, it is the wisdom of the ages. Technology is the bridge that unifies disparate fragments of self, technology is the thread that connects us to one another, and technology is the fuel that ignites our cultural imagination.

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Aesthetics is the embodiment of matter, space, and time. Life is experienced through the bodymind. Meaning is profoundly influenced by a multitude of sensations. Even now, as you read these words, the sound of each syllable is silently spoken, heard, and actionated within the bodymind. Words on the page have a rhythm and a cadence that expresses more than an idea.

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Three-dimensional scene simulation is the experimental bedrock of my interactive dream factory. My digital laboratory of imagination is a soft architecture based platform that supports more than prefabricated figures and characters. It is a customizable “character engine” on a synthetic stage that helps give rise to a unique cast of avatars.

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The toolbox in the digital domain is so expansive that the outcome often exceeds the detail from the highest resolution cameras, because the process used in image creation is not optical—it doesn’t suffer from the limitations of a lens or the use of light-sensitive material.

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Together, we render artworks inspired by the Language of the Body. We explore the creative possibilities attainable at the margins of technology, in search of new aesthetic experiences." - Dr. Shelley Lake

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