Sharon Younger

Art and Technology Studies Department
Alumni

Background

Since graduating from “Camera Obscura School of the Arts”, Tel-Aviv, Israel in 2004 with a focus on interface design and interactivity, she completed her MFA in Art and Technology at SAIC in 2006 and has been exhibiting worldwide both nationally and internationally in Israel, Poland, Romania, France, Chicago, Austria, Boston, and Korea.

Personal statement

I create interactive installations, each with its own distinct set of rules. These unique environments encourage individual exploration of the surroundings and its boundaries. My installations utilize video in which the participant’s physical interaction triggers a response from the prerecorded scenarios. To discover and experience the full extent of the piece one must first decipher the new reality and then proceed to interact with the objects, sensors and virtual characters.

In the environments I create, I explore the relationship between artist-piece-viewer in a playful, fun manner. How people approach these new spaces and the way in which they are observed by others fascinates me: their initial reactions, their final solutions, and how they find their own voice in this new structure. Their willingness to become part of the environment as performers encourages me to continue my exploration.

My art is incomplete without physical human interaction; this essential ingredient gives it “life”, enabling the scenario to develop and the plot to unfold. I believe that physical interaction allows the participant to approach art in a different, more involved manner. By being active rather than passive, the viewer’s role is transformed from observer to partaker.

Art has the power to excite our imagination, to transfer us to a magical place, if only for a moment. Using New Media Art as my vehicle, I give people the opportunity to break from their usual rules and create active, self-determined relationships with my pieces.

Current Interests

I’m currently pursuing my research of new non-linear structures in the form of interactive installations. I’m constantly refining my latest piece in the hope of exhibiting it. I’m involved in an endless relationship with my sketchbook writing and drawing new ideas as they form. I’m always opening my mind, ears and eyes to the world around me absorbing the surroundings and their wonders. Anything is of a potential interest to me and can form into a new concept, idea or creation.

Experience at SAIC

Coming from a small country, studying in a small school with very limited resources and facilities I found SAIC to be everything I ever dreamed of. SAIC opened a wonderful and exciting world for me. The resources available and offered are remarkable. The visiting artists program with its lectures and studio visits, the video data bank and its extensive rare collection. The student galleries and exhibition opportunities. The Gene Siskel Film center with its cutting-edge programs of independent and international cinema. The Flaxman and Ryerson libraries, and of course, The Art Institute are all at your fingertips.
What I liked best about SAIC was the interdisciplinary encouraged and the freedom to take classes from every department available, the interaction with other students majoring in other practices and the fact that each faculty member was accessible for consulting, meeting or just discussing art. I personally enjoyed every minute of my time spent at SAIC and I highly recommend this institution.