{"id":344,"date":"2019-09-05T03:04:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T03:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/?p=344"},"modified":"2019-09-05T03:05:28","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T03:05:28","slug":"marshmallow-laser-feast-caleb-wagner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/cwagner\/marshmallow-laser-feast-caleb-wagner\/","title":{"rendered":"Marshmallow Laser Feast &#8211; Light Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Who is Marshmallow\nLaser Feast?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) is a London-based collective run by Ersin Han Ersin that tries to blend the line between the digital and physical world. They are a small team that employs a lot of freelancers including but not limited to artists, game developers, programmers, and scientists. The work that MLF does ranges from virtual reality (VR) and mixed\/extended reality (XR) to light art installations, commercials, and music videos. Their primary medium is in the VR and XR world, where they often employ cutting edge technology to create their works of art. A major inspiration for how MLF works involves using VR to make people question conscious experience, or rather, can people experience the world beyond their senses by using technology. The \u201corchestrated sensory experiences\u201d that MLF tries to create employs in-organic sensing techniques in real-time applications to evoke organic sensations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MLF Showreel\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/85673289?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Project: <em>In the Eyes of the Animal<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the Eyes of the\nAnimal (ITEOTA) <\/em>was a 2015 VR\/XR project MLF created for the Grizedale\nForest in the UK. The inspiration came from the fact that may people are able to\ninstantly recognize hundreds of logos in an image, yet fail to recognize\nelements of nature such as different types of plants. ITEAOTA is an attempt to\n(re)connect with nature through virtual reality. Specifically, it changes the\nperspective in which users experience the Grizedale Forest, allowing them to\nperceive the forest from the viewpoints of a mosquito, dragonfly, frog, and\nowl. The installation was created using LIDAR to map out the Grizedale Forest\nand then manipulate it based on the perspective of the aforementioned\ncreatures. Users are first required to walk 15 minutes through the forest to\nreach where the installation is, which helps to lower blood pressure and allow\nthe users to get used to the sensation of the forest. The users then put on a\nVR helmet and sensory backpack which provides tactile feedback. The narrative\nbegins with users seeing things from the perspective of a mosquito, allowing\nusers to see things such as the carbon dioxide in the air, an ability that\nmosquitos have. The mosquito is then eaten by a dragonfly, which sees 300 frames\nper second (way better than an iPhone) and sees the full spectrum of light. At\nthis point, the same forest transitions into an entirely different world. The\ndragonfly is then eaten by a frog, which has eyes that only see moving things.\nThe frog also echolocates by ribbeting, which users can feel in the sensory\nbackpack they are wearing (they feel the vibrations\/power of a frog making\nnoise). Finally, the frog is eaten by an owl, which has incredible eyesight in\nfront, having the ability to read a newspaper across a football field. However,\nthe owl\u2019s peripheral vision is restricted so that users must turn their head to\nlook at different objects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ITEOTA TEASER\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/140057053?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Project: <em>Treehugger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Treehugger<\/em> is a\nproject that was looking to answer the question, \u201cCan we see what is going on\ninside of trees?\u201d The VR installation follows a drop of water that is sucked up\nby the roots of a tree and pumped to the canopy. The installation allows users\nto witness the transformation of water at a molecular level and see how the trees\nperform photosynthesis. MLF worked with scientists to understand the insides of\ntrees as well as used LIDAR to actually scan the trees for the VR application.\nThe VR masks had scent devices added to them that triggered certain smells at\ndifferent parts of the narrative, giving the installation a combination of\nsound, touch, and smell as part of the entire experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Overall,\nMLF discovered they could better understand the timing of narratives\/triggering\nof a sensory experience (ie when to release a smell) by measuring the \u201cemotional\narc\u201d of the story, or rather scanning people and measuring their heat\nsignatures to understand their emotions. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Treehugger Chapter 01: WAWONA Teaser\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/195539105?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Project: <em>Laser Forest<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Laser Forest <\/em>was a\nlaser installation created in 2013 that centered around the mycelium, or a type\nof fungus that connects trees and plants to each other. When one plant connected\nto the mycelium is touched, the entire forest experiences the sensation\ncollectively. The installation consists of 120 rods with lasers sticking out of\nthem; users can touch a rod or \u201ctree\u201d, which will vibrate and produce a sound\nthat can be heard by the rest of the installation. While the project is\ntechnically complex, it was made to feel as if users are actually standing in a\nforest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Forest\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/64652497?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Other Projects<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some other interesting projects by MLF include <em>A Colossal Wave, <\/em>where the main goal of\nthe project was to turn a VR experience from a singular experience to a\ncollective experience. While there are various components to the installation,\nthe main focus is a user who drops a ball that produces a tidal wave that is\nexperienced by other users. Another project called <em>Sweet Dreams <\/em>looks at combining virtual reality with food. Users\nexperience their food on a different level by combining different visuals with\nactual smells and tastes, to create an otherworldly sensory experience. <em>Distortions in Spacetime<\/em> tries to answer\nthe question of what it would feel like to step into a black hole. Users can\nexperience jets of light and gravity being torn apart as part of the\naudio-visual installation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Colossal Wave!\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/244047652?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Distortions in Spacetime Teaser\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/254467760?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>End Goal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MLF seeks to answer questions such as \u201cDo dolphins dream in\nsonar?\u201d or \u201cWhat is it like to be a bat?\u201d They want to provide users with a\nsense of wonderment for all that exists in nature, while at the same time exposing\nissues such as forests being torn down in a different and non-apocalyptic\nmedium. They hope to continue to use new technology to bring a new level of\nartistry and understanding to the invisible parts of the world. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ITEOTA Behind The Scenes Part 2: &#039;CREATING VIRTUAL WORLDS&#039;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/213658343?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who is Marshmallow Laser Feast? Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) is a London-based collective run by Ersin Han Ersin that tries to blend the line between the digital and physical world. They are a small team that employs a lot of freelancers including but not limited to artists, game developers, programmers, and scientists. The work that&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/cwagner\/marshmallow-laser-feast-caleb-wagner\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2019\/09\/MLF-copy.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions\/347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/lightart-a19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}