Technology has undoubtedly become an indispensable part of people’s lives, but computer artist Eric Chan takes it one step further with everything he does.
Chan, a graduate of Carleton’s interactive multimedia and design program, said his website and artist alter-ego is an extension of himself.
“I don’t view it as a website,” Chan said. “It’s really an embodiment of who I am.”
His website is called Eepmon V5. Eepmon is an alias Chan created for himself while he was daydreaming during a boring class, he said. It’s a play on the word “apeman.” Chan said his personality and artistic approach resembles that of monkeys.
“I really relate to the carefree and curious nature of the monkey,” he said. The monkey also happens to be his Chinese zodiac sign.
After half a year of challenging and unpaid work, the website was launched in 2011 and Chan said he couldn’t be happier with the result. It’s not only an online world, but a work of art in itself, he said.
“If there’s one thing I’m proud of, it’s that,” Chan said. “It set the bar for me.”
On his website, Chan used Google Maps as a tool to showcase his portfolio rather than the traditional way of displaying a location. In 2011, his website got the attention of bloggers, curators, and companies who asked to work with him.
“It’s opened a lot of doors,” he said.
Most of the lines stretch between New York, Toronto and Tokyo, but this week he flew back to Ottawa to work on one of his many collaborations.
Chan is currently working with Magmic, a mobile game design company. As an art director, Chan is designing characters and levels for their latest game. It’s Chan’s first venture into the world of video games but it fits his one artistic criterion: “As long as it’s challenging and I learn something new, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
His experience has ranged from teaching arts and sciences at Algonquin College to an exhibition of interactive paintings. His most recent exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery bridged the gap between human and machine by projecting coded weather data onto a blank canvas. As the weather changed, he responded immediately by painting over them.
Chan’s open data projects have caught the attention of a major leader in technology and design, TED global.
This year, the conference’s theme is radical openness, which Chan said his collaborative mashups of technology, art, and design are all about. His second interview is Jan. 25 and if he’s lucky, he could speak at the conference in Scotland this June.
On top of all this, Chan has also come back to Ottawa to celebrate Chinese New Year with his friends and family. 2012 is the Year of the Dragon and Chan appears to mirror the mythical creature’s optimism.
“I’m very positive of the outlook in 2012 and on,” he said.
