Jack Straw New Media Gallery

So Long An installation by Brent Watanabe October 16, 2009 - January 8, 2010 Gallery Opening: October 16, 2009, 7pm Artist Talk: November 20, 2009, 7pm Jack Straw New Media Gallery 4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle 98105 Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 - 5

Click the play button above to listen to our interview with Brent Watanabe. Click here to download the interview.

"...miraculously conjoins the empathetic pain of Butoh with birds that emote in Morse code."
-The Stranger

"It manages to be both complex and droll, antic and entrancing."
-Seattle Times

In So Long, Brent Watanabe continues his exploration of computer controlled installations, incorporating computer generated animations, robotics, and sound.

In the center of the room, a cartoon bird walks through endless, empty computer generated rooms projected on a collapsing paper house. A dead tree projected in the corner communicates through bells and windblown car lot streamers. On the floor, a paper bird flaps out messages using its single intact wing. Each of the characters communicate in Morse Code, trapped and unaware of the other.

The installation is controlled by several computer applications running across networked computers. The applications communicate with each other like a networked video game, but the system is self contained and controls itself with no user interaction.

Brent Watanabe programs computer applications to connect the gap between his interests in drawing, audio and video, mixing high-tech tools with low-tech techniques. He works primarily in video, animation, and computer controlled installations. His short films have been screened at film festivals internationally, and his drawings, videos, and installations have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the US.

Jack Straw Productions gratefully acknowledges The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, PONCHO, ArtsFund, and individual contributors for their support of Jack Straw Artist Programs.