SIGGRAPH 2013: Electronic Theatre Gratuitous Human Meat Display

[revised]

Whatever the Electronic Theatre is or should be at SIGGRAPH, we can all agree that it is not what it was and it can not be what it was. In its earliest period it was the premiere of new work in synthetic imagery to a community of people who were inventing that media. Today, the community has expanded and fragmented, and it is no longer the premiere of just about anything given that most of these "films" are available on Youtube or even at your neighborhood theatre.

This year's Electronic Theatre was the first I had attended since 1991. In 1991 there was a political event that was so obnoxious that I just threw up my hands and wished them all the best, and ignored it. It did not really matter. The theatre had become sample reels, and ways for large corrupt media organizations to recruit, and so forth. Thats fine, but who cares.

I kept hoping that I would either be invited to a jury or in some way be in a position to help recreate the theatre but that never happened.

So this year I decided to give it a shot and see what it was.

I lasted about 7 films until I walked out.

It started out very strong with two very amusing pieces. The first was the Centrifuge Brain Project, which you can find on Youtube at the URL below. And the second was a series of bumpers for the FMX Conference. Both were very amusing and well done.

Centrifuge Scientist Discusses His Vision

SPHEROTHON Centrifuge, 1982

The Centrifuge Brain Project on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVeHxUVkW4w

Then we had some silly art films or something which were pleasant and inconsequential. Certainly a lot of work, but not particularly new or original or ... well anything really except a lot of work. No problem.

The 7th or so project was a very well done shock piece that used photoreal images of people turning into garbage hamburger shit as part of some sort of political statement. I could just see a bunch of trendier than thou assholes in England showing off to their friends how fucking crude they could be.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures.  I do not even remember the title.  I do know that they had some sort of rendition of "God Save The Queen" as soundtrack.

The film show had a warning that the content contained "Adult material". I thought they meant kinky sex, I did not think they meant gratuitous human meat displays.

Whatever, its not what I want to see the technology I helped invent used for.  But, if you want to see this garbage, thats ok with me.   There it is, go for it.  I can always walk out if I don't like it, and I did.