Tales of the Future

Now open at LEA25, as part of the Interim Project for the month of January, is Tales of the Future, a collaborative installation by artist Asmita Duranjaya and science fiction author and composer maikelkay Resident (or Michael K. Iwoleit in real life). (In the image above, maikeykay performs on the left while Asmita, on the right, runs a particle show.) Asmita has constructed five immersive visualizations based on compositions by maikelkay—his Ambient Etudes 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7—that can be entered through a series of doorways at the landing point. Each is a distinct environment: the first, based on Etude 5, is a tunnel with 37 sound slices (second image), that allows visitors to "recompose" the piece as they travel through the space—each of the archways delivers an excerpt from the piece.

The second environment, based on Etude 1, displays a video inspired by the composition, while the third, set in a crystal water cave (third image) and based on Etude 6, invites the visitor to rest on a blossom leaf while listening (best experienced in mouselook). The fourth setting, based on Etude 7, is set in a world of floating spheres (again, probably best experienced in mouselook, lowest image), while the fifth, a rather violent place, is an "Alien-Sound-World" based on Etude 4. Visitors are prompted to bring up each etude in a web browser as they enter these spaces.

Some special events are planned at Tales of the Future. Today, Saturday, January 18, at 2 pm slt, maikelkay will read his story "Planck Time" in English, and on Sunday, January 19, at 1 pm slt, maikeykay will present a concert of a new ambient etude while Asmita accompanies with a live particle show. These events will be presented at the main landing area (top image), a presentation space shaped as a bluish foreign planet.