Press
2024
UploadVR.com - VRChat Spotlight - https://www.uploadvr.com/vrchat-spotlight-beyond-a-bit-namuanki-fog-forest/https://www.uploadvr.com/vrchat-spotlight-beyond-a-bit-namuanki-fog-forest/
2023
Ars Ex Machina - Interview about AI for American Purpose Magazine - November 28, 2023 - https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/ars-ex-machina/
CG Pro School - Zoom interview for "Inner Circle" alumni group about AI art and my book, Emergent Visions.
Interview for Virtual World Society - Nextant newsletter, Winter 2023 - Interview covered my book of AI art, "Emergent Visions" and my VR world, Namuanki. https://indd.adobe.com/view/f2e22abd-5474-4926-acad-263e96a2d964
2022
News post on Namuanki on AllVirtualReality.com - October 11, 2022 - https://allvirtualreality.com/news/explore-namuanki-virtual-world-kevin-mack.html
Video tour of Namuanki with VR Journalist, Ian Hamilton, September 1, 2022 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj8Tc1qnp_0&t=1s
Voices of VR Podcast #1120 - Interview with Kent Bye about Namuanki - Aug 31, 2022 - https://voicesofvr.com/1120-kevin-macks-procedural-worldbuilding-vrchat-in-for-venice-immersive-competition/
2021
Beyond Representation in Virtual Reality: The Abstract Art of Jane Hamill and Kevin Mack - by Charlotte Kent, PhD - Leonardo MIT press Journal - June, 2022 issue
Hologram NFTs at Art Basel Miami Are Trying to Save the Oceans - Coindesk article by Ian Allison - Dec 1, 2021 - https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/12/01/hologram-nfts-at-art-basel-miami-are-trying-to-save-the-oceans/
No Proscenium - Venice VR Expanded Diary September 7, 2021 - Review of Anandala by Kathryn Yu
Voices of VR Podcast #1004 - Interview with Kent Bye - September 7, 2021 - Anandala is an Awe-Inspiring, Generative Art of Embodied AI that Cultivates Perpetual Novelty
Befores and Afters Podcast - VFX Futures: Kevin Mack's abstract virtual reality artworks - Interview with Ian Failes
2019
Voices of VR Podcast #798 - Interview with Kent Bye - Aug 19, 2019 - VR Artist Kevin Mack Architecting Awe With VR Native Cooperative AI Agents
The Future of Reality: A Conversation with Kevin Mack - Interview by Julianna Bjorksten - March 28, 2019 Embodied - NYU's Art's and Culture Magazine
Creating Worlds of Awe - Interview with Kevin Mack by Dot Cannon - March 18, 2019 OverCoffee - Podcast interview
2018
The Art of XR Featured in Prestigious Gallery Exhibition by Charlie Fink Oct 12, 2018 FORBES
Check out Cutting Edge Virtual Art in Pasadena This October by Juliet Bennett Rylah Oct 11, 2018 WELIKEL.A.
Free Pasadena VR Art Show Goes Way Beyond Games by Mike Roe Oct 11, 2018 LAIST
The Future of XR is Now by Tanja M. Laden - October 10, 2018 LAWEEKLY
Interactive Art at Moxi by Charles Donelan July 24, 2018 - Abstract Virtual Worlds and Music from Your Fingerprints
Voicess of VR Podcast #581 - Interview with Kent Bye - October 24, 2018 - Using Abstract Art for Neural Entrainment & Brain Research
2017
Edgy Labs - Article by Juliet Childers - November 7, 2017 - Here's How VR Hynoanalgesic Experiences are Advancing Neurological Research
CG Society - Siggraph 2017 VR Village - Kevin Mack Interview by Anna Cicone, August 3, 2017 on Youtube.com
Artists Show Potential of VR by Charlie Fink July 11, 2017 Forbes.com
VR is Exploding by Joan Oleck, June 23, 2017 Entrepreneur Magazine
Everywhere but Nowhere by Genie Davis, June 24, 2017 Art and Cake
Interview with Kevin Mack at the Virtual Reality Show 2017 London by Jackie Adedeji 4/22/2017 WinkBall.com
Report: Virtual Reality Show 2017 London by Ryan Booth 4/24/2017 TheVirtualReport.biz
What's happening now in VR right now: From psychedelic art to combat therapy by Mariam Harris 4/21/17 DigitalArtsOnline.co.uk
Things to Do this week in London by James Lloyd 4/15/17 Science BBC Focus Magazine
Prolific VFX Artist Kevin Mack Brings Surrealist Sculpture to Life in 'Blortasia' by Scott Hayden 1/18/17 RoadtoVR.com
Explore the Ever Changing Maze of Blortasia by Peter Graham 1/11/17 VRFocus
Blortasia: A Virtual Reality Art Experience by Paul Dravis 1/11/17 FuturePerfectMachine
'Blortasia' Lets You Enter The Mind Of The Man Behind The VFX Of 'Fight Club' by Charles Singletary 1/4/17 UploadVR.com
Blortasia: An Abstract World in the Sky by Mark Frauenfelder 1/4/17 BoingBoing
Blortasia, An Abstract Sculpture Maze, Will Release Soon by Caty McCarthy 1/3/17 Versions.KillScreen.com
2014 - 2016
Take a Breather With These Meditative VR Experiences by Zeynep Abes for VRScout 11/20/16
This Oscar-winning artist is creating an abstract, unpredictable maze by Caty McCarthy 11/16/16 in Versions.KillScreen.com
VR & The Mind: Anxiety – Can VR Stop Us All Worrying So Much? 9/12/16 New series by Alex Handy in VRFocus
Immersive Art Experience ShapeSpace VR – Zen Parade Hits Gear VR 4/18/16 by Jamie Feltham in VRFocus
Putting the Latest Technology to the Test by Meeri Kim 8/23/16 in Philly Voice
This is the Future of Animation, VFX and VR - Siggraph 2016 by Ian Failes 8/8/16 in DigitalArts Online
VRLA shows latest advancements in 'Virtual Reality' by Akiko Ashley 8/10/16 in Post Magazine
Cat's and VR Coverage of UploadVR's Art & VR event by Bobby Venom - http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/uploadvrart
Zen Parade by Dennis Semionov - http://semionovdenis.com/en/2016/06/11/zen-parade/
"VR Art: Relax, Rejunenate, and Refresh" One on one with VR artist Kevin Mack by Adam Popesku in Smashd - http://smashd.co/vr-art-parade/
Art Exhibit and demo of Zen Parade article by Genie Davis - http://diversionsla.com/?p=2669
Review of Shape Space VR by Drew Millard - Vice.com, March 27, 2015 -http://www.vice.com/read/is-virtual-reality-the-future-or-just-a-passing-fad-326
Review by Greuel - inverseArts.com - August 13, 2015 - http://www.inversearts.com/site/14-articles/events/21-it-takes-a-virtual-village
Article by Cindy Yamanaka - O.C Register, July 12, 2015 - http://www.ocregister.com/articles/virtual-671426-reality-event.html
Review by Ian Failes - fxguide.com - September 19, 2015 - http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/trojan-horse-wrap-up-abstract-vr-perception-juice-d-up-titles/
Podcast with Christopher Nichols - Chaos Group - October 26, 2015 - https://labs.chaosgroup.com/index.php/cg-garage-podcast/cg-garage-podcast-44-kevin-snow-mack/
Review of SEA VR by Michael Glombicki - RoadToVR.com- November 6, 2015- http://www.roadtovr.com/sea-vr-returns-as-the-largest-vr-event-in-the-us-northwest/
Abstract Art Contest Winners Evoke 3D Renaissance by Joe Micallef - January 24, 2014 - http://www.3dprinterworld.com/article/abstract-art-contest-winners-evoke-3d-printing-renaissance
2024
UploadVR.com - VRChat Spotlight - https://www.uploadvr.com/vrchat-spotlight-beyond-a-bit-namuanki-fog-forest/https://www.uploadvr.com/vrchat-spotlight-beyond-a-bit-namuanki-fog-forest/
2023
Ars Ex Machina - Interview about AI for American Purpose Magazine - November 28, 2023 - https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/ars-ex-machina/
CG Pro School - Zoom interview for "Inner Circle" alumni group about AI art and my book, Emergent Visions.
Interview for Virtual World Society - Nextant newsletter, Winter 2023 - Interview covered my book of AI art, "Emergent Visions" and my VR world, Namuanki. https://indd.adobe.com/view/f2e22abd-5474-4926-acad-263e96a2d964
2022
News post on Namuanki on AllVirtualReality.com - October 11, 2022 - https://allvirtualreality.com/news/explore-namuanki-virtual-world-kevin-mack.html
Video tour of Namuanki with VR Journalist, Ian Hamilton, September 1, 2022 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj8Tc1qnp_0&t=1s
Voices of VR Podcast #1120 - Interview with Kent Bye about Namuanki - Aug 31, 2022 - https://voicesofvr.com/1120-kevin-macks-procedural-worldbuilding-vrchat-in-for-venice-immersive-competition/
2021
Beyond Representation in Virtual Reality: The Abstract Art of Jane Hamill and Kevin Mack - by Charlotte Kent, PhD - Leonardo MIT press Journal - June, 2022 issue
Hologram NFTs at Art Basel Miami Are Trying to Save the Oceans - Coindesk article by Ian Allison - Dec 1, 2021 - https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/12/01/hologram-nfts-at-art-basel-miami-are-trying-to-save-the-oceans/
No Proscenium - Venice VR Expanded Diary September 7, 2021 - Review of Anandala by Kathryn Yu
Voices of VR Podcast #1004 - Interview with Kent Bye - September 7, 2021 - Anandala is an Awe-Inspiring, Generative Art of Embodied AI that Cultivates Perpetual Novelty
Befores and Afters Podcast - VFX Futures: Kevin Mack's abstract virtual reality artworks - Interview with Ian Failes
2019
Voices of VR Podcast #798 - Interview with Kent Bye - Aug 19, 2019 - VR Artist Kevin Mack Architecting Awe With VR Native Cooperative AI Agents
The Future of Reality: A Conversation with Kevin Mack - Interview by Julianna Bjorksten - March 28, 2019 Embodied - NYU's Art's and Culture Magazine
Creating Worlds of Awe - Interview with Kevin Mack by Dot Cannon - March 18, 2019 OverCoffee - Podcast interview
2018
The Art of XR Featured in Prestigious Gallery Exhibition by Charlie Fink Oct 12, 2018 FORBES
Check out Cutting Edge Virtual Art in Pasadena This October by Juliet Bennett Rylah Oct 11, 2018 WELIKEL.A.
Free Pasadena VR Art Show Goes Way Beyond Games by Mike Roe Oct 11, 2018 LAIST
The Future of XR is Now by Tanja M. Laden - October 10, 2018 LAWEEKLY
Interactive Art at Moxi by Charles Donelan July 24, 2018 - Abstract Virtual Worlds and Music from Your Fingerprints
Voicess of VR Podcast #581 - Interview with Kent Bye - October 24, 2018 - Using Abstract Art for Neural Entrainment & Brain Research
2017
Edgy Labs - Article by Juliet Childers - November 7, 2017 - Here's How VR Hynoanalgesic Experiences are Advancing Neurological Research
CG Society - Siggraph 2017 VR Village - Kevin Mack Interview by Anna Cicone, August 3, 2017 on Youtube.com
Artists Show Potential of VR by Charlie Fink July 11, 2017 Forbes.com
VR is Exploding by Joan Oleck, June 23, 2017 Entrepreneur Magazine
Everywhere but Nowhere by Genie Davis, June 24, 2017 Art and Cake
Interview with Kevin Mack at the Virtual Reality Show 2017 London by Jackie Adedeji 4/22/2017 WinkBall.com
Report: Virtual Reality Show 2017 London by Ryan Booth 4/24/2017 TheVirtualReport.biz
What's happening now in VR right now: From psychedelic art to combat therapy by Mariam Harris 4/21/17 DigitalArtsOnline.co.uk
Things to Do this week in London by James Lloyd 4/15/17 Science BBC Focus Magazine
Prolific VFX Artist Kevin Mack Brings Surrealist Sculpture to Life in 'Blortasia' by Scott Hayden 1/18/17 RoadtoVR.com
Explore the Ever Changing Maze of Blortasia by Peter Graham 1/11/17 VRFocus
Blortasia: A Virtual Reality Art Experience by Paul Dravis 1/11/17 FuturePerfectMachine
'Blortasia' Lets You Enter The Mind Of The Man Behind The VFX Of 'Fight Club' by Charles Singletary 1/4/17 UploadVR.com
Blortasia: An Abstract World in the Sky by Mark Frauenfelder 1/4/17 BoingBoing
Blortasia, An Abstract Sculpture Maze, Will Release Soon by Caty McCarthy 1/3/17 Versions.KillScreen.com
2014 - 2016
Take a Breather With These Meditative VR Experiences by Zeynep Abes for VRScout 11/20/16
This Oscar-winning artist is creating an abstract, unpredictable maze by Caty McCarthy 11/16/16 in Versions.KillScreen.com
VR & The Mind: Anxiety – Can VR Stop Us All Worrying So Much? 9/12/16 New series by Alex Handy in VRFocus
Immersive Art Experience ShapeSpace VR – Zen Parade Hits Gear VR 4/18/16 by Jamie Feltham in VRFocus
Putting the Latest Technology to the Test by Meeri Kim 8/23/16 in Philly Voice
This is the Future of Animation, VFX and VR - Siggraph 2016 by Ian Failes 8/8/16 in DigitalArts Online
VRLA shows latest advancements in 'Virtual Reality' by Akiko Ashley 8/10/16 in Post Magazine
Cat's and VR Coverage of UploadVR's Art & VR event by Bobby Venom - http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/uploadvrart
Zen Parade by Dennis Semionov - http://semionovdenis.com/en/2016/06/11/zen-parade/
"VR Art: Relax, Rejunenate, and Refresh" One on one with VR artist Kevin Mack by Adam Popesku in Smashd - http://smashd.co/vr-art-parade/
Art Exhibit and demo of Zen Parade article by Genie Davis - http://diversionsla.com/?p=2669
Review of Shape Space VR by Drew Millard - Vice.com, March 27, 2015 -http://www.vice.com/read/is-virtual-reality-the-future-or-just-a-passing-fad-326
Review by Greuel - inverseArts.com - August 13, 2015 - http://www.inversearts.com/site/14-articles/events/21-it-takes-a-virtual-village
Article by Cindy Yamanaka - O.C Register, July 12, 2015 - http://www.ocregister.com/articles/virtual-671426-reality-event.html
Review by Ian Failes - fxguide.com - September 19, 2015 - http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/trojan-horse-wrap-up-abstract-vr-perception-juice-d-up-titles/
Podcast with Christopher Nichols - Chaos Group - October 26, 2015 - https://labs.chaosgroup.com/index.php/cg-garage-podcast/cg-garage-podcast-44-kevin-snow-mack/
Review of SEA VR by Michael Glombicki - RoadToVR.com- November 6, 2015- http://www.roadtovr.com/sea-vr-returns-as-the-largest-vr-event-in-the-us-northwest/
Abstract Art Contest Winners Evoke 3D Renaissance by Joe Micallef - January 24, 2014 - http://www.3dprinterworld.com/article/abstract-art-contest-winners-evoke-3d-printing-renaissance
Selected Press - 1998-2013
Zen Surrealism - 3D Printed Art by Kevin Mack - May, 2013
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"From deep within the recesses of his mind, artist Kevin Mack generates fluid, intertwined shapes. As you move your eyes from each Laser Sintered (LS) sculpture to the next, a funny thought might occur to you: these pieces almost capture the process of 3D printing itself. I know that he’s probably aiming for something more profound, but what I mean is that, in that space between the representative world of digital bits and the tangible world of physical objects, I can see Mack’s sculptures – these digital formations, thoughts and ideas striving to become physical things, willing themselves into being."
Complete article by Michael Molitch https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/zen-surrealism-3d-printed-art-by-kevin-mack-11123/ |
Las Vegas City Life - A Conversation About Kevin Mack's "New Forms" Exhibit at Brett Wesley Gallery - 2012
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"SCOTT: I don’t mean to sound too critical, but this is pretty cool.
JENESSA: Yeah, it’s definitely got a lot to offer. It’s got this really strong Dali-eque vibe. The title of the piece kind of gives it away. Neurosymphonic. You might see that there’s kind of a musical instrument up here in the front that’s been warped. Dali comes to mind because I see this clock here -- SCOTT: It’s melting. JENESSA: Right. So we have this classic nod that seems to be happening here. SCOTT: When people talk about abstract art, they usually mean art in which the images don’t look like actual things. But here you can see elements of actual things… JENESSA: Whenever you’re looking at something, like say you’re looking at clouds, your mind always wants to find something recognizable in the abstract. [There’s a word for that tendency: pareidolia.] So Kevin is leaving little pieces of recognizable things that you can latch onto to satisfy that left-brain impulse: “Oh, I know what that is, that’s part of a trumpet; that’s part of a motorcycle headlight,” and then you can move on and get lost in the imagery, travel through the layers, starting with that little piece you were able to latch onto." See full article |
The Avant Garde Diaries "Between Order And Chaos" - 2013
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"Mark Frauenfelder first discovered Kevin Mack through his special effects work on the film Fight Club; however, it was Mack's strictly artistic work that really piqued Frauenfelder's interest. Mack's art takes the vast and still uncharted area of digital technology and brings it into the physical world. The results are images printed on canvas which vacillate between abstraction and photorealism, and virtual sculptures transformed into the tangible via three-dimensional printing technology."
View the video |
Hollywood Today Review of Mack And Mack Exhibit - 2012
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"While gazing across at Kevin’s prints, which use the latest digital processes to render into physical tangibility what once had been confined to a computer screen, I felt like I was witness to a game-changing instant in the evolution of art, when the artist’s freedom-loving imagination and the challenging world of digital process had united in perfect harmony."
- Bruce Lyons |
"I'm the Son of Tinkerbell" Kevin Mack Gweek Podcast with Mark Frauenfelder - April, 2012
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Gweek is Boing Boing's podcast about comic books, science fiction and fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps, and other neat stuff.
Go to podcast |
Hollywood Today article on Kevin Mack - 2012
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"Kevin may look like a physicist, but just below the tempered surface we quickly discover a man burning with the creative urge to transform art, people and the world. His fire is not frenetic but it is intense. He once said that he yearned to produce works of art that psycho actively transport people to a new realm – direct metamorphosis if you like – a place where the self can burn with illumination."
- Bruce Lyons |
Art At Will Presents The Macks - October, 2010
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Kevin and Snow Mack are the featured artists in this episode of Art At Will by Isaac Mackie and Flynn Helper
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Lines and Colors art blog review - October, 2007
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"Kevin Mack’s digital compositions are like a roller coaster for your eyes. You glide into them on big swooping forms that recede into the depths, looping and swirling among themselves like the veinous system of an android, or vibrating into a crenulated landscape of primary colors. As you go further into the images (and “into” is the operative word), traceries of liquid strands twist around floating islands of Henry Moore forms, and sinuous wires multi-colored quicksilver explode into blossoms of robotic flowers."
"If I seem to be waxing poetic, it’s because Mack’s images are conducive to the kind of dreamlike interpretation and “animals in the clouds” visions that are characteristic of the fantastical landscapes of Max Ernst or Robert Venosa; sort of a hyperdimensional Jackson Pollock on digital steroids, or Yves Tanguy in a blender." "It’s hard for me to look at these and not think of them as digital sculptures, and marvel at how fantastic they would be if they could be made into actual physical objects that you could walk around (or through)." - Charley Parker See original blog post |
Wired magazine profile from August, 1999
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"When Fincher asked Digital Domain for the brain fly-through for Fight Club, he already knew that Mack had transformed Marina del Rey into Beijing for Red Corner and had created the hypnagogic afterworld in What Dreams May Come. Fincher, and other directors like Luc Besson of The Fifth Element fame, request Mack because the 40-year-old artist and animator, matte painter and model maker, and photographer and compositor is a master at seamlessly weaving various components into live-action worlds. They know that Mack (who earned his first Academy Award this year as part of the f/x team for What Dreams May Come) is a leader among a new coterie of Hollywood wizards: the guys who create "invisible effects" - computer-enhanced scenes that fool the audience into believing the shots were produced with live actors on location, but are really composed of a mélange of digital and live-action footage.
But what Fincher did not know was that Mack had already devoured almost every major book on computational neuroscience and complex adaptive systems, and was aching for a chance to shoehorn his extracurricular obsession into a movie." - Mark Frauenfelder See full article |