Ivar Zeile

Select materials relating to the Third Annual Supernova Digital Animation Festival, presented in 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The festival incorporated the playful and relevant theme Reality Bytes in a solid effort exemplified by numerous community partnerships including the MCA Denver, RedLine Contemporary Art Center and many others, all contributing to the groundswell of interest in the exciting developments happening within digital motion-art and animation today. Programs focusing on student and digital native development within the arts came to the forefront in many ways including the MCA Denver Teens Summer workshop on curating digital animation, the Student Competition intersecting with the new 16th and Arapahoe LED screen, and Reality Bytes RedLine, a major exhibition featuring numerous curator led tours of student groups throughout the month of September. Truly a groundbreaking year for the festival.

Reality Bytes - Supernova Outdoor Digital Animation Festival

Presented by Denver Digerati September 14-23, 2018

From the Press Release:

Denver Digerati presents SUPERNOVA, the only festival in the world to elevate digital animation as a new public experience. A robust slate of free programming, gallery exhibitions, educational opportunities and other community collaborations make SUPERNOVA one of the most singular, advanced cultural engagements initiated in Denver, Colorado. 

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Denver Digerati, along with the Denver Theatre District, Arts and Venues Denver and a host of additional sponsors, present “Reality Bytes,” the third edition of SUPERNOVA Outdoor Digital Animation Festival taking place September 14th - 23rd in Downtown Denver, Colorado. The only forum of its kind in the world to focus exclusively on the convergence of technology and animation, SUPERNOVA is a singular, dynamic example of innovation in art merging with the public sector. Each year the festival hosts an all-day education forum, art exhibitions and other special events to bookend an entire day of public screenings taking place on large-scale L.E.D. screens situated in the heart of Denver, including a special temporary LED screen located in the Denver Performing Arts Complex outdoor Galleria. SUPERNOVA programming defines what is current in digital animation today, presenting works by visionary animators who apply advanced technology in thrilling ways. Emerging artists and seasoned veterans are all celebrated at the festival, which boasts $5,000 in prize money to top winners in the festival’s Juried Competition. Artists from anywhere in the world have though July 15th to submit up to two animations for consideration through SUPERNOVA’s entry portal on Film Freeway. An additional $1,500 in prize money is being introduced this year for a Student Competition, currently open only to Colorado-based animators, and the festival’s first Inviational program, highlighting artists who have been previously involved in the festival and Digerati related events. A robust slate of community collaborations centered on digital art practices will also take place throughout Denver leading up to and during the week of the festival, making SUPERNOVA a robust experience for locals and visitors to engage with.

SUPERNOVA 2018 continues the tradition of bringing on board three distinguished jurors to enhance the growing prestige of the festival.  Max Hattler (Hong Kong), Katie Torn (NYC) and Robert Seidel (Berlin) will be our guests in Colorado this year as presenters in an all-day education forum, participants in the festival’s  core and auxiliary programming, and to select cash prize awards ranging between $250 - $2,000 USD in the festival competition. The three jurors have been chosen for their pioneering work within the fields of new media, contemporary art and digital motion graphics on an international level as well as their previous involvement with Denver Digerati, whether as SUPERNOVA award winners or participants in over six years of our ongoing programming.

SUPERNOVA commenced in 2016 as a singular example of innovation within an urban context, promoting a relaxed and rewarding visual experience like no other for free to the public. Digerati’s partners and sponsors are some of the leading advocates for arts within Denver’s greater cultural community, and our impressive artist network spans the globe. The festival’s encompassing theme “Reality Bytes” for 2018 was selected as a reflection of current times, both playful and ominous, exquistely shaped through practioners of animation and art around the world today.  

Pre-Festival Collaboration with MCA Denver

This first-ever free four-part workshop, led by Denver Digerati Director Ivar Zeile, will introduce community teenagers to curatorial theory and practices related to SUPERNOVA Digital Animation Festival. Participants will gain perspective into digital animation as a contemporary practice, experience the juried selection process by reviewing work submitted for the festival, and contribute to a culminating event in September as part of SUPERNOVA 2018, both within the Museum as well as part of official outdoor screenings at the festival. Workshops start June 19th and run through July 17th.

Reality Bytes Core Program Elements

SUPERNOVA commences its wide slate of free programming with an all-day education forum taking place on Friday September 20th at the Auraria Campus Library, located in downtown Denver nearby the festival’s main screen locations. The forum is comprised of presentations by festival jurors and invited guests, as well as visiting animators in a roundtable discussion. SUPERNOVA’s official launch party follows that evening with an opening reception for the “Reality Bytes” group art exhibition presented at Redline Contemporary Art Center, featuring a variety of major works by Digierati related animators as well as prominent artists from the community and around the world. A full press release relating to the exhibition will be available in August.      

Starting at noon on Saturday, September 21st, SUPERNOVA will feature approximately 10 continuous hours of digital animations on permanent LED screens prominently located in downtown Denver, and concurrently on a temporary LED screen brought into the Denver Performing Arts Complex Galleria, as a focal attraction with seating and sound. Programs are structured according to themes, culled from works submitted to the festival as well as year-round research into the most compelling animations created from around the world. Special highlights include this year’s solo artist spotlight on Jack Wedge, a young animator based in NYC who was the recipient of the second prize award from SUPERNOVA 2017; the U.S. debut of London-based artist Lawrence Lek’s long-form CGI masterpiece “Geomancer;” and a compilation of abstract animations from students in Hong Kong, developed by 2018 festival Juror Max Hattler, an Assistant Professor at School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. The festival Competition will once again be a central feature, with approximately 12-15 works presented for award consideration. A celebration with music, award announcements and free-flowing animations will conclude the day’s programming, taking place within the elegant Ellie Caulkins Opera House, situated in the DPAC Galleria adjacent to the festival’s temporary screen.

In 2018 SUPERNOVA initiates the use of a brilliant new, complex-format LED screen located on the edge of the Denver Theatre District in the heart of the 16th street Pedestrian Mall. The screen will feature the festival’s first invitation only program, with new works up to two- minutes in length by 30 artists who have participated in the festival previously or within Digerati’s broader framework, crafted to suite the unique format of the screen. In addition, the screen will be used to showcase works prepared by emerging Colorado-based animators in a celebration of creativity that brings together the State of Colorado’s leading programs of higher learning, hosted by SUPERNOVA’s exclusive education partner CU Denver College of Arts & Media. A $1,000 cash prize award will be determined by audience vote for the invitational program, which will repeat throughout the day. A $500 cash prize award will be determined for the student program by renowned visiting artist Jonathan Monaghan. 

Auxiliary Community Collaborations

SUPERNOVA’s expansive slate of community collaborations promote the relevance of new media and digital animation  as leading forces within contemporary art today. SUPERNOVA 2018 juror Robert Seidel will have an extended stay in Denver in order to produce a new-media installation at Understudy, downtown Denver’s exciting new project space. Seidel also contributes his curatorial skills with an evening prorgam of experimental animations by German artists, to be presented at Sie Film Center in conjunction with the Denver Film Society, with additional programming to be confirmed for an exclusive evening preceeding the festival. Two solo exhibitions featuring prestigious new-media artists will take place concurrently with the festival at two local venues. The Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design will host D.C. based artist Jonathan Monaghan at their Steele Gallery, adding to his previous Denver engagements as a SUPERNOVA Juror and Digerati commissioned artist. The Emmanuel Art Gallery, located in a historic building on the campus of SUPERNOVA’s exclusive education partner CU Denver, will host Aram Bartholl, the German artist’s first exposure in Colorado. Prominent artists working within the genre of digital animation will also be featured in the Digerati curated exhibition “Reality Bytes” at Redline, including Chiho Aoshima, Sandrine Deumier, Chris Coleman and Katie Torn, along with a retrospective of works from Digerati curated and commissioned projects. SUPERNOVA coincides with the final weekend of the summer-long blockbuster exhibition “Pixelated: Sculpture by Mike Whiting” at Denver Botanic Gardens, which brings an unprecedented level of depth to the entire playing field of creativity inspired by the advent of digital visualization. The Museum of Outdoor Arts will bring their new “Cricket Cinema” concept to the festival as an adjunct viewing experience, with emerging filmmaker shorts juried by SUPERNOVA Director Ivar Zeile presented on a mobile screen. Finally, SUPERNOVA will bring festival jurors Max Hattler and Robert Seidel to CU Boulder’s Black Box Theatre to showcase new works on Sunday afternoon, September 23rd to conclude official festival programming. With all of these efforts, visitors to Denver will find much to engage with throughout the community during the month of September in celebration of SUPERNOVA 2018.

SUPERNOVA is presented by Denver Digerati with support from Denver Theatre District, Denver Arts & Venues, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Meow Wolf, Understudy, CU Denver College of Arts & Media, Museum of Outdoor Arts, Colorado Office of Film Television & Media, Orange Barrel Media, Branded Cities and WeedenLaw. Community affiliations and collaborations in 2018 include MCA Denver Teens, Redline, Denver Film Society, CU Boulder Sonic Arts, Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, and Emmanuel Art Gallery at CU Denver. SUPERNOVA also supports the summer-long exhibition “Pixelated” at Denver Botanic Gardens.