Abstract
This chapter presents Motion Studies, an artwork that brought together investigations into bird flight, at the intersection of art and science. At the core of the project were motion studies undertaken in a flight laboratory and translated into video. Motion Studies used a fluid dynamics imaging system known as digital particle velocimetry to compare the nature of birds’ flights in different conditions. The footage was later edited into an experimental art video that combines location footage, archival imagery and a digitally altered sound track of wild birds’ calls. Motion Studies has been exhibited around the world as both a single-channel video and as part of a video installation. Insights gained while working on the art video have led to promising new scientific research directions for the team and to a series of related art works.
This chapter is an updated and extended version of the following paper, published here with kind permission of the Chartered Institute for IT (BCS) and of EVA London Conferences: F. D’Agostino et al. “Motion Studies: an Art and Science Collaboration.” In A. Seal, J. P. Bowen, and K. Ng (eds.). EVA London 2010 Conference Proceedings. Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC), British Computer Society, 2010. http://www.bcs.org/ewic/eva2010 (accessed 26 May 2013).
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References
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Acknowledgements
Our shared exhibitions, artists’ talks and participation in conferences and film festivals around the world have been made possible by the National Science Foundation grant requirement to make academic work accessible to a general public. Our further research proposal was awarded a Lindbergh Foundation Honour Award in 2009. A grant from The Regional Arts and Culture Council of Portland supported both the Motion Studies exhibition at the Elizabeth Leach Gallery and D’Agostino’s attendance at the EVA conference.
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D’Agostino, F., Dawson, H., Tobalske, B.W. (2013). Motion Studies: The Art and Science of Bird Flight. In: Bowen, J., Keene, S., Ng, K. (eds) Electronic Visualisation in Arts and Culture. Springer Series on Cultural Computing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5406-8_9
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