J-Walt at L.A. Center for Digital Art

August 8 - 31, 2019
Reception : Saturday, August 10, 6 -9pm

ArtWalk Preview: Thursday, August 8, 7-9pm

Zerynthia is an alien world in need of exploration. The first expedition occurred a few years ago. The first event discovered Haxda Trees, Irspyll, and other species yet unnamed. The name "Zerynthia" comes from the species of butterfly that can often be observed there.

When we visit in Zerynthia, we witness new biologies and ecologies. We're invited to ponder the interactions between the creatures, and to dispel our Earth-based understandings of flora, fauna, and ecosystems.

The process of exploration and discovery continues at each presentation of Zerynthia. Attentive visitors often discover aspects of the world that hadn't previously been noticed even by the initial explorers. These discoveries prompt new questions, which in turn prompts further exploration. In this way, the presentation of a Zerynthia expedition's findings is a collaborative process.

Zerynthia Expedition 2 is presented as an intimate immersive 3D installation experience as a series of audiovisual ambient landscape vignettes. Visitors engage via a picture window that opens out into the new world.

About J-Walt

J-Walt is a director, performer, interactive designer, filmmaker, graphic artist, music composer, and VR pioneer. For over a quarter-century, he has been at the forefront of interactive art and computer performance, expanding the uses of computer animation into uncharted territories. His Lucid Dreamscapes performances combine aspects of animation, video games, music, theater, dance and architecture into a seamless new art form. He has performed for thrilled audiences around the US and worldwide. He creates art and performances in large immersive spaces, a form of group VR. His images and installations are by-products of his real-time explorations and adventures.

In March of 2006, J-Walt won an Academy Award for his development of a real-time pre-visualization system. In 2003, he received a Themed Entertainment Award for his digital puppetry attraction, spawning a new generation of digital puppet for theme parks. He produced location-based video games for Sony. He was a founding member of Disney's VR studio, which created a state-of-the-art virtual reality experience for Disney's EPCOT center in 1995.

J-Walt grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and attended the Experimental Animation department of CalArts, graduating in 1988. J-Walt's movies and images have been exhibited at Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH, MOCA, Sinking Creek Film Festival, New York Animation Festival, DomeFest, and others. He founded and ran the Los Angeles Abstract Movie Workshop. He lives in Altadena, California.