Video artist creates virtual dance world
Tempe, Ariz. -- Muriel Magenta is an intermedia professor in the ASU Herberger College School of Art, who consideres herself a new genre artist with a focus in video, computer art, web technology, multimedia installation and performance. She explores the relationship between various 2D and 3D electronic media in conjunction with gallery installation. On May 22 at 8 p.m., she introduces CLUB M, an exciting video environment where art meets Salsa, animation tangos with hip-hop, and street dancing encounters Flamenco in an urban-club atmosphere. The stage environment of CLUB M is a one-time event, especially designed for the video premiere.
The viewer is immersed in the CLUB M ambiance upon entering the theatre. Sweeping spotlights, shifting projections and club music create the ultimate setting for viewers to imagine themselves inside CLUB M. When the screen drops and the video begins, the stage becomes a “virtual” dance floor.
Magenta’s video, also entitled CLUB M, is a digital fusion of computer animation with Latin and hip-hop dance styles. Spontaneous and choreographed movement work in tandem with animated costumes, props and backdrops to enhance the club dynamic. Special lighting effects reveal striking, multimedia visual patterns. Simultaneously, lighting provides a distinctive sense of place for “virtual” dancers (within the video) who frequent CLUB M. The video includes performance work from about 40 ASU Herberger College Dance alumni and undergraduates, in addition to four community members from Open Dance Studio in Phoenix, Ariz. The entire production is created from a visual-art perspective.
“My passion for creating multimedia environments that mix 3D animation and live action video was the motivation for producing Club M,” Magenta says. “I said to myself: an urban dance club is the perfect subject for such a production -- besides, I love Latin dance and hip-hop fusion!”
The Club M video will be distributed nationally and internationally to festivals, galleries, events, media libraries and on the Internet. Magenta’s 3D animations and video works have been screened internationally and throughout the U.S. Magenta is a native of New York City. She received her art training at CUNY- Queens College, and Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
Experience CLUB M on May 22 at 8 p.m. in the Paul V. Galvin playhouse, which is located in the Nelson Fine Arts Center on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street on the ASU Tempe campus. This event is free and open to the public. Visit the ASU Herberger College of the Arts calendar for venue and parking information.
The School of Art is a division of the Herberger College of the Arts at Arizona State University. Its printmaking, photography and art education programs are nationally ranked in the top 10, and its Master of Fine Arts program is ranked eighth among public institutions by U.S.News & World Report. The school includes four student galleries for solo and group shows by graduate and undergraduate art and photography students: Gallery 100, Harry Wood, Northlight and Step. To learn more about the School of Art, visit http://art.asu.edu.