Sky View, by Dean Terry.
Beginning at 2:30 pm today, and becoming available as a video online thereafter, artist and professor Dean Terry, Associate Professor of Arts & Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas, will present Sky View I. The participatory livestream art project by Terry and students is a part of Terry’s transmedia art and performance group Therefore.
Sky View, the first of three iterations of Terry’s project, will happen via Zoom, and is open to participation by the public. Each participant will livestream a tree for 15 minutes on Zoom. The idea is to create a collection of trees being livestreamed from different locations at the same time.
“I’ve been thinking about and collecting ideas for experimental streaming for art and performance for several years now,” Terry states in a text message to Glasstire. “This year there was [such] a flood of streaming, and we are all so burned out by it now, I [decided to] let it rest. But now that the election is over (for most of us), it seemed like this would be a good time for this particular piece.We’ve been prototyping it in my graduate class in experimental media at UT Dallas, and the students have made substantial contributions to its current form.
“For SkyView I, we are exploiting a tension in streaming something that doesn’t really do anything, and has no conventional sequence, or urgency. So it is a gesture that flies in the face of immediacy, scheduling, and excitement.”
Instructions are as follows:
1) Find a tree that is away from buildings and wires and other markers of civilization. Think about doing this ahead of time. It is fall, so consider finding a tree that is dropping its leaves.
2) From your phone, login to the Zoom call at 2:25 PM CST and turn on video. Turn on front-facing camera. Turn off sound.
3) Place your phone flat at the base of the tree, facing upward so that the tree takes up most of the screen and the trunk is clearly visible. See the reference image in this post.
4) Move away from the phone so you are not in the shot (this is important), and enjoy the moment. Please do not move the phone or look into the shot. The orientation (which way is up or down) doesn’t matter.
5) The piece will start at 2:30 PM CST. After at least 15 minutes (at 2:45 PM CST) you may leave the call, or stay on a little longer if you wish. The effect of people leaving the call gradually will be like leaves falling from a tree. The call will automatically end at 3 PM CST.
