57: David Tinapple
Part artist, part engineer. And teacher. David Tinapple explores images, video, sound, and human interaction. He writes, "I create interactive systems, performance tools and image capture devices. I want to illuminate the forces at work around us and
within us, explore our assumptions about the world." Tinapple did his MFA at Carnegie
Mellon, and now teaches at Arizona State in the school of Arts Media and
Engineering.
(learn about Tinapple after the jump)
List five things on your Inspiration Wall (real or imagined).
1. The writing of Ivan Illich and Slavoj Zizek.
2. The architects, Herzog and de Meuron.
3. The artwork of Olafur Eliasson, Carsten Nicolai, Anish Capoor, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Andreas Gursky, James Turrell, Donald Judd.
4. Boredom can be inspiring, which is increasingly rare with all these gadgets and distractions. Boredom is very powerful.
5. And silence. That was more than five.
What's your last big project?
At work (ASU), we just designed and are about to launch a new undergrad degree (ASU) called "Digital Culture." I've been steeped in thinking about the future of education and the rapidly changing nature of what young people need and want to study. This is the degree I would have wanted to major in when I was an undergrad but it didn't exist. It involves all kinds of thinking and making. Art, engineering, design, architecture, computer science, dance, theater. And we will have an amazing new facility outfitted with great equipment, computers, 3D printers, 3D scanners, video and audio gear...
In my own practice, over the winter I collaborated with a colleague at UNC Chapel Hill on a video performance. He arranged the score and the musicians, I made the visuals to be projected above the musicians. Actually the videos were part of a live-video performance software that I wrote so that the videos could be timed and synchronized with the score in real-time.
What's your next big project?
I'll be teaching a large class for undergraduates in this new Digital Culture degree program. The class is called "Interactive Visual Environments" -- we build interactive systems.
And in my own practice, I'll be working on a large commission with a long time collaborator, Janek Schaefer, from the UK. It's a permanant sound installation in Bradford UK, a huge project, many "sound posts" surrounding an 80 meter reflecting pool that will be activated by motion sensors and timers. We want it to be a living audio installation, changing with patterns of the days, months, years.
Why do you do what you do?
I need to be creating things with my hands, and with my heart. But I also need to be analyzing things with my head. I'm so lucky to have found an occupation that provides such a fine balance between the two, research and practice, technical and emotional. And I love teaching. I never thought I would, but I do. I'm shy during the day, but put me in front of a room full of eager students, and I'm a different person. It still surprises me.
What's something you want Phoenix to know about you? (And, if you're
game, what's something you really don't want Phoenix to know about
you?)
I really like collaborating with people with different skills, points of view. I never thought I'd end up living in the desert (grew up in Ohio), but I secretly enjoy the heat. I sit in my underwear in my back yard listening to music on my ipod and drinking cold beer.
The Creatives, so far:
100. Fausto Fernandez
99. Brian Boner
98. Carol Panaro-Smith
97. Jane Reddin
96. Adam Dumper
95. Mayme Kratz
94. Daniel Tantalean
93. Yuri Artibise
92. Lisa Starry
91. Paul Hoeprich
90. Betsy Schneider
89. Mary Shindell
88: Gabriel Utasi
87: Tiffany Egbert
86. Angela Cazel Jahn
85. Dayvid LeMmon
84. Beatrice Moore
83. Michelle J. Martinez
82. Carrie Bloomston
81. Paul Porter
80. Rachel Bess
79. Karolina Sussland
78. Aaron Abbott
77. Mary Lucking
76. Erin Sotak
75. Greg Esser
74. Matthew Mosher
73. Mark Klett
72. Tony Carrillo
71. Paul Morris
70. Joe Pagac
69. Alison King
68. JJ Horner
67. Kim Porter
66. Marco Rosichelli
65. Heather Hales
64. Amy Lamp
63. Kevin Vaughan-Brubaker
62. Lindy Drew
61. Robbie Pfeffer
60. Neil Borowicz
59. Lynn Fisher
58. Tanner Woodford
