Eric Siu
Past Artist In Residence
2007

Eric Siu manipulates time and technology to make interactive video games and precisely edited experimental video. His project, “Face Hack,” (2005) allows the viewer to interact with Hollywood movie “Rocky” via live-feed camera projecting the face of the viewer onto a square box that floats above the main character’s body. “Optical Handlers,” (2003) is a project designed to re-structure human binocular vision. Footage from trials with the device took place among youth in Hong Kong (2003). The device creates two separate fields of vision, one for each eye. This imitates the way birds see; youth in the video stumble around humorously before adapting to the new system of sight. Another project, “Rainy Nights,” (2002) is an extended 4:3 screen. A technique used in renaissance art to depict a dream sequence in one scene, this digital version lets footage from the same street shot at different times of night co-exist. What appears as one street with two sidewalks is, in fact, one sidewalk filmed at 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. – the two time periods run parallel. The short video, “Constructing Destruction,” (2003) tells the story of a mechanically minded young man who likes to collect machine parts, especially screws. This self-reflective piece shows the young man going through his life engrossed in bits of metal, while real life passes him by.