I n t e r a k t i o n s - L a b o r

 

 

Jim Ruxton

(Toronto, Canada)

 

 

 

Jim Ruxton received his M.A.Sc in electrical engineering at the University of Ottawa in 1988. Between 1988 and 1991 he worked as an engineer designing various satellite communication devices. In 1991 he went to the Ontario College of Art and Design to explore combining electronics and art. In 1993 he graduated with an A.O.C.A and was chosen as a medal recipient.

 

Since 1993 he has worked in Toronto as an engineer/artist bringing electronics into various fields of the arts. He is the sole proprietor of Cinematronics, a company created to service the film special effects industry. His electronic props and special devices have been used in numerous films and T.V. series. As well as creating his own installation art he collaborates in the areas of dance, theatre and film to create interactive kinetic environments, allowing the viewers or performers to alter the space. He has collaborated with a number of well known Canadian artists including Graham Smith, Max Dean, Rae Davis, Barbara Sternberg, Daniel Olson, Camille Turner ,Veronica Verkley, Phillip Barker , Nancy Patterson and Nilan Perera .

He has also collaborated with dancers Mitch Kirsch and Jane Townsend, Susanna Hood, Katherine Duncanson and Cathy Gordon Marsh. Jim has designed a number of special machines for creating specific effects including a device which produces a moving projection effect for Atom Egoyan's opera Salome and special motor controllers for pyrotechnics on the last KISS world tour. He has also produced the electronics for exhibits at the Boston Museum of Science, the Royal Ontario Museum the Vancouver Science Centre and recently the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art. His varied interests led him to be a co-founder of the annual "Subtle Technologies Conference" a conference that blurs the boundaries between art and science. Jim was awarded 2 Dora awards in 2002 for set and lighting design for his work in Fides Kruker's production of The Girl With No Door On Her Mouth. He was recently awarded a patent for a new type of lighting system that he hopes will rid the world of "icicle lights" .

 

website:

http://www.subtletechnologies.com

(Jim Ruxton is the Director of the annual Subtle Tedchnologies Conference in Toronto)