Lincoln Schatz:
Random Access Portraits
New Media, New Technology
Schatz studied sculpture and photography at Vermont’s Bennington College, and spent 15 years creating cast, sewn, and sculptural pieces before beginning to work directly with computers and video.
“Using different technologies opens up different artistic possibilities,” he notes. “I remember the first time I played with CAD modeling software and started distorting shapes — I thought, wow, I’m creating something that I could never have created without this tool.”
In 1999, Schatz began building virtual sculptures within a CAD environment, then animating them. “I took a CAD object and replicated it several times,” he recalls. “I gave each object a different set of characteristics, whether it was center of gravity, mass, or wind resistance. Then I raised them all up vertically in this virtual environment, with virtual cameras positioned all around, and let them go. I didn’t really care what happened — I just wanted to let the process evolve on its own.”
From there, it was a short conceptual step to working with random patterns and motion using video images. “I realized I was looking at the possibility of creating a system with a set of parameters that change over time,” he says. “That’s where this other body of work came from.”
The Cube project extends Schatz’s use of video and programming into new territory — and also marks a return to his roots as a sculptor. “It lets me combine several things I’ve always loved,” he points out. “One is photography, particularly as a kind of transition into video. The second is sculpture — it’s unquestionably sculptural. And then third, there’s the computational aspect of the project.”
Mac in the Box
“I’ve always used Apple gear,” says Schatz. “Before starting this generative work, I was doing CAD modeling and digital animation work with Macs. So it’s been nonstop.”
The Cube relies on Macs from top to bottom. 24 Mac minis collect footage from each DV camera and store the data as QuickTime files. The Mac minis are connected to a Mac Pro server, and another Mac Pro serves as a display machine.
“The minis are running the capture side of my software,” Schatz explains. “They capture video based on movement and create QuickTime files, which are all stored on the individual minis. When the portrait is done, I execute a script that brings all those QuickTime files across the network back to the server. The size of the files varies, depending on the cameras and how much the person moved — it could be as little as 50 GB, or as much as 175. Once it’s collected on the server, the data is moved to the display machine, and the software starts to harvest and display it. It’s just real-time manipulation of those videos onscreen.”
The Mac minis are a key component in the Cube project, he adds. “It’s a great, low-cost, small machine. I like their economy — both of cost and of size. They’re highly reliable and incredibly stable. I have about 30 of them in the studio right now.”
Schatz considers Macs the perfect platform for his other generative video projects as well. “I’ve tried using PCs for some pieces, and had really mixed results,” he says. “There was such a variance in behavior that we yanked them out completely. QuickTime on a Mac is highly optimized, and on a PC it’s not. I can’t get the run rate I need off a PC. So I won’t use them anymore. I only did a couple of pieces with PCs — I’m recalling them and retrofitting them with Mac Pros.”
But there’s also an aesthetic angle to his Mac-centricity, Schatz admits: “I recently got my 17” MacBook Pro, and I abandoned this dull PC laptop I’ve had for the last three years because I found it so aesthetically barbaric. The GUI was really getting me down. But the minute I got my MacBook Pro, I was so happy! I guess if you’re a visual person, it really makes a difference. I spend a lot of time on that portal, and it’s such a pleasure to do things on a Mac. They’re really easy to understand and work on.”
In Chance We Trust
Schatz’s approach to portraiture is not without risk. Just as he relinquishes control over the artistic results, the nature of the work demands that his subjects do the same. Unlike conventional representations, Schatz’s generative portraits are made up of unscripted, nonlinear images, subverting the idea of “posing” for a likeness. And the hour-long duration of each Cube portrait makes it impossible for sitters to sustain a façade.
“I really do view these as portraits,” says Schatz. “How are you going to tell the story of who you are? And with Cube, it’s very difficult for people to be something other than who they are. I had my brother and his family in here, and it was chaos — the kids running around, throwing a ball — and I realized that’s the way their house is too. I’m finding that people are inescapably themselves.”
He laughs. “It’s funny — I talked to a guy on the phone this morning who’s coming in today. He said, ‘Well, what do I do in there?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know. It’s up to you!’”