Jeffrey Shaw, The Golden Calf (1995)

Since the late 1960s the internationally renowned new media artist Jeffrey Shaw (Sydney , Australia) has pioneered the use of interactivity and virtuality in his many art installations. His works have been exhibited worldwide at major museums and festivals. From 1991 till 2003 he was the founding director of the Institute for Visual Media at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe , Germany . In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship and returned to Australia to establish the Center for Interactive Cinema Research (iCinema) at the University of New South Wales

Webpage: http://www.icinema.unsw.edu.au

In The Golden Calf (1995), an object in real space---an empty plinth---becomes the location and ground for a synthetic sculptural object in electronic space. This virtual sculpture ---a three dimensional golden calf---is viewed on a hand-held LCD display fitted with a spatial tracking system. As it is manipulated in front of the plinth, the virtual perspectives correlate to the real depth and distance views the viewer has of the plinth. This interactive piece raises important questions located at the intersection of digital technology, Jewish laws and monotheism (particularly the Second Commandment), and about religious worship in general.

Webpage: http://www.jeffrey-shaw.net

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