UNArte × Mediascope– DigitalPlaygrounds DemoDay transformed UNAgaleria into an interactive digital art laboratory
On May 9, UNAgaleria hosted “DigitalPlaygrounds – DemoDay”, an event organized by the National University of Arts Bucharest (UNArte) and Mediascope.
On this occasion, students, teachers and creators were invited to experience how technology is becoming the new playground of art through digital canvases that can transform any exhibition space into an immersive experience. Even though technology is present and has evolved, with canvases on canvas becoming digital in the meantime, the uniqueness of the event consisted in demonstrating that the basis of artistic talent remains the same.
The event marks the beginning of the partnership between the National University of Arts Bucharest and the trade marketing and innovation agency Mediascope, so that students and teachers of the Faculties within UNArte, including the Faculty of Fine Arts, the Faculty of Decorative Arts and Design and the Faculty of History and Theory of Art, have access to know-how and digital canvas screens for educational projects and exhibitions.
Within the digital art laboratory created at UNAgaleria, six types of interactive solutions were installed – The Divider, ScreenBox, The Arch, DigitalArtWall, CrossPanel and The Portal – each offering a different way to exhibit content, from multi-screen walls to immersive tunnel-type structures.
UNArte students and professors responded to the challenge of transmitting digital video art and animation works directly on these platforms and connecting with them, testing live mapping, layering and instant audience feedback.
The event was opened by prof. univ. dr. Cătălin Bălescu, UNArte rector and Dragoș Bocai, CEO Mediascope, who presented the common vision “Empowering Future Creators” and announced that the Mediascope agency will support the university in three directions of the European Higher Education Area: education4.0 and interdisciplinary skills, increasing the quality of artistic research and developing knowledge through intensive processes of research and artistic creation.
The technical demonstration was supported by Alin Ion, Head of IT Mediascope, and Ruxandra Stancu, Business Unit Manager Mediascope, presented retail case studies that use the same technology.
The central moment of the event, the “Demo Session”, allowed the real-time viewing of over 75 video art works created by students and teachers, who received live feedback from the audience.
“Technology is increasingly becoming a space for artistic expression and today, through our partners, we are taking another natural step towards connecting with the technologies of the future”, stated Prof. Dr. Cătălin Bălescu.
“In just a few minutes, today’s technology can maximize creativity, transforming any concept into an immersive experience for the audience. I wanted this Demo Day to show firsthand what students can do when they have the right tools at hand: in two or three days they produced works that impressed both me and my colleagues in the agency. The UNArte × Mediascope partnership is about innovation, visual education and tech art, one in which technology becomes the new playground of art and all that matters is how much our most important asset – the brain – can create.” — Dragoș Bocai, CEO Mediascope.
The Digital Playgrounds event at UNAgaleria aimed to:
• Providing an immersive experience for creators and audiences: Students and teachers uploaded works directly onto the six types of canvases (TheDivider, The Arch, ScreenBox, DigitalArtWall, CrossPanel, ThePortal), transforming the physical space into an immersive digital environment.
• Interaction and instant feedback: The technology platform provided by Mediascope allows for live control and content layering; visitors were able to see, react and influence the presentation in real time, increasing their attachment to the exhibited works.
• Real-time adaptability: Integrated digital Art Tech solutions can collect statistics on impulse stimulation and engagement, providing exhibition curators with quick insights to adjust concepts and optimize the next exhibitions.