How does bringing an artwork outside change its interaction with people and the environment? What new possibilities exist if we create an electronic artwork that can travel with us and be installed anywhere? Desert Media Art is a production based course where students research, propose, produce, install, and document an electronic artwork designed for Abu Dhabi’s desert. The desert is an iconic landscape with a rich history of use by artists as an alternative to the white box of the gallery. We will study historical and contemporary outdoor art practices as well as local ecology and culture. Students will work in groups to create an electronic artwork that is battery powered and ready to be taken into the field. The project will be installed in the desert, documented, and then presented in an indoor exhibition. Technologies used will include CircuitPython, 3D printing for enclosure design, rapid prototyping using laser cutting, battery power, and video production. Students will not just build a project and install it in the field, but also learn how to communicate their work to the public using video documentation and indoor exhibition.
Desert Media Art (IM-UH 3315) is taught by Michael Ang at New York University Abu Dhabi’s Interactive Media program.
The Eye of the Sands – Silent watcher bridges between the seen and unseen
نجــــوم اللـــــيل (Najuum Al-Lail) – Constellation of stars in the sand mirrors the sky above
أسرار الصحراء (Asrar Al-Sahra), Desert Secrets – A magic lamp guides your quest for secrets
Veil of Echoes – Sonic sculpture flows with the wind
حكايـــــة (Hekaya) – Telling collected Emirati stories
Desert Whispers – Augmented plant communicates its boundaries
Luminous Rhythms – Connecting desert wanderers through interactive drums
NOMAD – Rediscovering a Lost Earth
The Oasis – Night blooming robotic flower
Descendant of Desert – Dystopian future wearable
Arth-E – Anxious desert robot
When Life Meets Life – Interactive desert pyramids
Frame 1: People in traditional Arab clothing walking in the desert, this takes place before sunset. Shot: Wide Overhead Frame 2: Arab girl contemplating culture, thinking about how Arabs’ main medium of preserving information was Read more…
Context Firstly, the context of the film is that there are 3 characters which stumble upon the installation, and because of the lights hence the name Iqrabbu which means come closer. Once they approach and Read more…
Shot 1:The opening begins with a low-angle shot taken from ground level, looking up slightly. The camera captures a vast, cracked desert floor — dry, lifeless, and sunbaked. The wind kicks up small clouds of Read more…