The ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community SPARKS (Short Presentations of Art and Research for the Kindred Spirit) are monthly zoom sessions with lightning talks and discussion. Each time they focus on a different topic and have presenters selected from an open call as well as invited speakers. During the 2023/2024 school year, we held nine SPARKS sessions. The speakers will provide an overview of the various SPARKS sessions and give short talks related to the various topics. The SPARKS sessions were: Sept: SIGGRAPH 2023 Art Gallery Artist Talks; Oct. Creative Graphic Design using New Technology for the Future; Dec. Robotic Art: Social and Aesthetic Dimensions, Session I: Social Interaction and Session II: Performativity and Otherness; Jan. Recap of Art Papers at SIGGRAPH Asia 2023 in Sydney; Feb. Pioneering Interactive Art and Artists from the 1960s to 2000; Mar. Queer Digital Art Now; Apr. Anticipating the Architecture(s) of The Future & Jun. SIGGRAPH 2024 Sneak Preview)
Bonnie Mitchell is a new media artist and Professor at Bowling Green State University in Digital Arts, in Bowling Green, Ohio, USA. Mitchell is a member of the ACM SIGGRAPH History and Digital Arts Committee where she focuses on the development of the SIGGRAPH archives and coordination of the SPARKS lecture series. Mitchell’s artworks explore spatial and experiential relationships to our physical, social, cultural, and psychological environment through interaction, abstraction and audio. Her current creative practice focuses on development of physically immersive environments using interaction via electronics and special FX to reveal change over time. Her work has been exhibited internationally at numerous venues.