Virtual Sculpture in NYU Academic Computing

PRESS CLIPPING

TITLE: Manifold: Ribbons of Marble Embedded in Crystal
PUBLICATION: Academic Computing and Networking
at NYU
DATE: September 1993

ARTICLE

        This issue's cover is derived from a full-color frame of computer animation. Called Manifold, it is a work of Virtual Sculpture by David M. Geshwind from the collection Process Takes Form.
         Rather than planning these works visually, Geshwind "conceives of processes or algorithms for constructing the various descriptions of shape, color, and texture for these synthetic objects. Generally, if the process seems interesting or elegant, the resulting visual is also pleasing; but, often I don't really know exactly what it will look like until after it is rendered."
         Although he produced some of the earliest commercial works of computer animation in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Geshwind had not created any animated works for more than 10 years. He took Phil Sanders' course in the Interactive Telecommunications Program of the Tisch School of the Arts in order to become familiar with the new computer-animation tools. The capabilities of SGI Indigo workstations running Alias software in the ACF Arts and Media Videographics Studio change the process of animation radically -- "It's nothing like programming mainframe computers in 'C'," says Geshwind, "which is how we used to do it."
         Geshwind holds patents in computer technology, including Virtual Reality, and is interested in creating applications for VR including "shared spaces akin to museums or art galleries where works created specifically for VR can be experienced. I could not possibly produce physical versions of these sculptures. Manifold would require that paper-thin, flexible sheets of marble be embedded in polished, carved crystal." After rendering a 360-degree animation in Alias, he then processes the animation sequences for stereoscopic video, "which gives a real sense of the shape of the object and the way it interacts with light. In a few years, hardware will be available to explore these works interactively, at the same high visual quality."
         Currently, David Geshwind is completing his master's degree in interactive telecommunications at TSOA and, at the same time, is starting the PhD program in the Department of Computer Sciences (CIMS).

                           -- David Frederickson

You can read an abstract to the paper Virtual Sculpture Gallery

To request further information on Vurtual Sculpture, click here.

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