contact sponge	project history: Sauna02 is the third iteration in a series of public experiments aimed at exploring mediated forms of immersion in public spaces. The inquiry of the project focuses on how we can be immersed in the urban environment, feeling the pulse and fluidity of the surrounding world without bombardment and oversaturation. How can we create the sense of a contemplative oasis coincident with urban density? By constructing a series of hybrid architectural media installations in public spaces-physical structures that are "augmented" by computer controlled media, we aim to explore the realm of non-invasive ambient and textural immersion, rather than information-based immersion. sauna 01/sfemf: Sponge first explored the phenomenology of solitary immersion with Sauna01 at the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival in 2000. This prototype sauna consisted of an enclosed space, within which lay a 4 x 8' tank; a half cylinder room resembling a cat scan or MRI. The tube, constructed out of a sheet of translucent polycarbonate, formed a large, curved rear screen projection surface. The rear screen made it possible to see the projected images in wraparound, while lying inside the tube. The prototype sauna was for one person at a time, with each person lying down on a stretcher-like bed, outfitted with a pair of headphones. Once comfortable, the participant was rolled inside the tube in order to experience 1 out of series of different audio/visual programs or environments, each lasting a distinct duration of between 6-15 minutes. The programs, created by an international team of media artists, not only varied in their duration but in the speed and intensity. They ranged from abstract light patterns, to softer, ambient like images of noise, water and the 2000 solar eclipse. Participating Artists: Sam Auinger, Rachel De Boer, Maja Kuzmanovic, Laura Farabough, Chris Salter, Mark Scheeff, Sha Xin Wei
	Sauna intro phase2 01 02 03 discussion support gallery
	contact sponge

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