The Golden Calf
			by Jeffrey Shaw

				











In The Golden Calf (1995) (Above), an object in real space---an empty plinth---becomes the location and ground for a synthetic sculptural object in electronic space---the Golden Calf.


This virtual sculpture is viewed on a hand-held LCD display with a spatial tracking system. As it is manipulated in front of the plinth, the virtual perspectives correlate to the real depth and distance views the viewer has of the plinth. The calf has shiny skin, and the viewer can see reflections in it of the actual gallery space around the installation. This was achieved through photographs of the area shot earlier and digitized to create an environment that is "reflection mapped" in real time onto the calf.


In this way, the real and the virtual depend upon each other to complete the meaning of the piece. (Golden Calf application software was created by Gideon May. The piece was produced at ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany.)


Jeffrey Shaw is director of the Institute for Visual Media at ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany.

(© Jeffrey Shaw. Photo: Paul Thompson)

(Contact: Jeffrey Shaw, Institute For Visual Media, Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM), Lorenz Strasse 19, D-76135 Karlsruhe, Germany.

E-mail: js@zkm.de

Web: http://www.zkm.de)



____________________________
           
           
       | wired worlds |
				       
				   | gallery entrance |

		            | past exhibitions |

				            | Leonardo On-Line |