NEW YORK, NY.- Will Pappenheimer, associate professor of art at Pace University, and a founding member of the artist collective, Manifest.AR, have recently been awarded the ARtSENSE Commission at The Foundation for Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool, England for their proposal entitled ‘Invisible ARtaffects.’

Invisible ARtaffects will explore the apparent link of virtual objects with viewer response, via wearable devices designed to interpret the sensory input of the audience to control and create “augmented reality” objects and information. The goal is for the exhibitions to create an experience of virtual art which is responsive to viewers. The virtual affects the real, which in turn affects the virtual.

Researchers will include artists from Manifest.AR, the ARtSENSE Consortium of European organizations, and FACT working in collaboration, culminating in a significant exhibition in 2013 at the FACT building. Manifest.AR is also planning to extend their explorations with exhibits within the Liverpool community.

Pappenheimer and Manifest.AR were awarded the $32,000 grant for artists’ fees, production costs and travel costs while continuing research and production of this proposal.

Projects they are proposing are visualized in these pictures:

“FACT Sky Museum,” a virtual museum of skywriting created by FACT museum visitors, by Will Pappenheimer: http://manifestarblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/fact-sky-museum2.jpg

“Biomer Skelters,” a virtual jungle forest generator, Will Pappenheimer and Tamiko Thiel: http://manifestarblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/forrestation-viz-1.jpg

Will Pappenheimer is an artist and professor at Pace University in New York as well as a founding member of the Manifest.AR collective. His work has appeared in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. One notable installation was his public mood ring in Tampa, FL, a combined Internet and spatial piece of artwork which allowed a large online community to display the emotional condition of public opinion and news stories during Super Bowl 2009 in colors in a public sculpture. His grants include an NEA Artist Fellowship; Traveling Scholars Award from School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Turbulence.org; Rhizome.org at the New Museum; and a large scale public network sculpture for the City of Tampa. His work with Manifest.AR has been reviewed in a variety of media, including New York Times, the Boston Globe, WIRED, NY Arts International, Art US, and MSNBC.com.