TOKEN CITY: 3-D animation and multimedia installation

Abstract

Summary form only given. The New York subway has becomes the site for a 3D animation simulating reality in an extraordinary environment. A sense of digital time travel is accomplished through the synthesis of 3D animation with computer graphics, real-time video and an original soundtrack. The content is a portrait of energy, both human and mechanical, where the digital architecture of the subway and trains are contrasted with real-time, videotaped New Yorkers in transit. TOKEN CITY began as a collaborative work by the authors. The content evolved from the common experience of both artists, whose aesthetic histories have been influenced by subway iconography and sounds, in the creation of an animation accompanied by an original score. The 3D computer animation was created on a Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) workstation using Alias Wavefront-EXPLORE software. Modeling forms, texture mapping and motion creation were accomplished on the SGI. Subway billboards, mosaics and surface textures punctuating the animation were created separately on an Apple Macintosh platform and exported to the SGI. The animation files were output to a laser videodisc.