New York University Spring ITP/IMA Show Provides a Glimpse into the Future
A combination tech expo and art show, the NYU Tisch’s ITP/IMA Spring Show returns May 12-13 with more than 100 interactive and future-facing projects that address current trends and issues, including Artificial Intelligence, computer-assisted learning, and data privacy.
Now in its fourth decade, the annual “Festival of the Recently Possible” showcases the imaginations, innovations, and messy experimentations of some 150 students in the undergraduate Interactive Media Arts (IMA), graduate IMA Low Residency, and graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the Tisch School of the Arts.
The show is open on May 12 from 2 to 6 p.m. and on May 13 from 4 to 8 p.m. on the second and fourth floors of 370 Jay St. in Brooklyn. Admission is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.
Students are plugged into the cultural moment, making this a window of discovery of future products, from startups to art installations and everything in between.
“If your project works, or if it’s interesting and it fails, it’s in the show,” says Rothberg. “It’s a barrage of experimentation by students who are committed to their ideas. They are all exploring cutting edge technologies and how to apply them in interesting and unconventional ways.”
A piece by Duncan Figurski, from the 2022 show, features a large canvas stretched on a conveyor belt. A camera hidden in the lamp is linked to a computer that translates the colors and shapes into sound, like a visual player piano.
Among this year’s projects is an installation about data privacy that uses the NYC subway swipe system to show what data is collected when you tap your phone for entry. There’s also a tool that generates AI comic books and interactive art that changes to the movements of viewers. The projects are created by individual students and groups, and range from graduate theses that have been in development for a year to creations that came out of courses on gaming, interactive museum exhibit design, and communications.
“It’s not just about technology, but responding to the moment,” Rothberg explains.
Sometimes, a project or display becomes a successful company. For example, Runway, a tech company founded by 2018 ITP graduates Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala Ortiz, and Anastasis Germanidis, emerged from the trio’s final show. In 2014, Allie Diracles displayed a prototype of what would become Vidcode, now a leading education platform that teaches computer programming through video art.
The festival has evolved into a networking event, too, because it attracts hundreds of alumni who want to catch up with each other while also sniffing out what’s on the horizon.
“The vibe is science fair crossed with weird art projects,” says Dan O’Sullivan, Associate Dean of Emerging Media at the Tisch School of the Arts, who produced the first show 32 years ago. “It’s unpretentious, unexpected, and fun.”