Please join us in the techlab for one last hurrah!!

Launch event and reception for the artists is from 2pm  to 4pm, 
Saturday, 24th January 2009 at Surrey Art Gallery,  13750 88th ave. Surrey.

The digital revolution has included the global proliferation of millions  of image-taking devices (such as digital cameras, video recorders,  cell phones, and PDAs) and the sharing of billions of images through  online networking and archival sites (such as Flickr). As this  democratization of digital technologies makes the ability to make  photographic images so ubiquitous, Glocal is interested in looking at  the implications of the changing roles and relations of images within  the field of visuality. Glocal is particularly interested in exploring  the construction and relevance of the “unique” or “originary” image in  relation to the multiple or “multitude”. How can an image retain its  ‘unique’ nature as resistance against being subsumed into the  multitude? How can we understand the nature of “uniqueness”? Does it  remain a relevant concept for digital image making? Through an  interactive installations as well as a series of on-line platforms,  Glocal examines the new digital lives of images.

Glocal has been in development for the past year, incubating in the  Surrey Art Gallery’s TechLab as an artist in residence project.  Starting from scratch, the team has developed software tools, and  hardware gadgets, and experimented with various prototypes of  presentation formats and interactivity models. At the same time, the  team has led various community engagement projects, built curriculum  for numerous high school and university workshops, and assembled a  large networks of volunteers, educators and supporters. For this  event, the Glocal artists will be presenting the culmination of their  research/creation. Viewers will be able to interact with the touch- table prototype that explores the aggregation within their 20,0000+ 
image archive, and view a series of large software-generated  photographic ’similarity structures’. These ’similarity structures’  imagine how an anthropologist might attempt to build relationships  between images within the archive. Using an algorithm which calculates  compositional similarity between images, elaborate maps and  phylogenetic trees are generated, modeling possible links between  images. These temporally unique visual structures attempt to examine  the complex relational environments that surround images in an online  space.

The Surrey Art Gallery is located at 13750 88 Avenue (at the corner of  King George Highway) in Surrey. Just 10 minutes from Surrey Central  Skytrain Station by bus. Link to google map : http://is.gd/g3ls

For more information please email info@glocal.ca .

This October 18th is your chance to finally see the fruits of your labour! The Surrey Art Gallery Techlab is hosting an afternoon open-house from 1-5pm to show you some of the achievements of the Glocal Project!!

As you know, the Glocal artist team has been busy in the TechLab hacking, coding and building systems to manipulate how we make, view, and think about digital photography. Now, their interactive exhibit invites visitors to experience thousands of photographs made locally, and globally, on a giant touchable screen! The interactive prototype uses a specially-designed camera vision to sense the movement of your hands across the table, revealing photographs connected by human and machine perspectives.

This afternoon event will also invite you into the TechLab to experiment with custom built digital cameras – like a remote controlled toy car that takes photos!