Olaf Meyer was born to German parents in Nicaragua, because of political turmoil his family moved to Costa Rica after only 2 weeks. After a year they had moved back to Germany and by 1980 they had moved to Sydney Australia, as a child Olaf traveled to many countries with his parents.

 

Olaf now lives in Melbourne where he provides an alternative interactive video design, audiovisual hire and installation service. He also works as a freelance digital animator and is currently designing interactive video projections and holograms for a Dutch Fashion Company who is launching a new season range in FEB 2005 in Milano Italy. Since 2004 Olaf has concentrated on linking his interactive video compositions, sound and lighting to meaningful body gesture and dance.

Using the experience gained with his interactive video shows, Olaf has been a helpful member of the design team behind real-time video editing software products including Oishii Multimedia's SVI (Syd) and Andrew Baxter's 'VisualSynth' (Melb). In 2002 Olaf began a Master of Design in Multimedia (by research project) degree at Monash University where is researching and building systems for the improvisation of Multimedia in physical performance.  In 2002 Olaf has designed and built a 2-dimensional 'non-touch' screen interface for Xeon Digital Pty Ltd (Melb) based on a Laser Matrix motion tracking system designed by Olaf earlier for one of his interactive video installations. The screen was used to deliver screen based interactive works at 'Experimenta's House of Tomorrow ' 2003 (Melb), Oz-e-culture 2003 (Bris) and local corporate events.

 

Olaf's first national exhibition was held at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1997 as part of the 1996 VCE TOP CATS exhibition. His passion for digital animation was sparked in the early 1990's by the brilliant glossy shapes, images and moving fractal textures, which accompanied the underground electronic music of the time.

 

Olaf taught himself to paint and animate on computers during high school art class in Albury/Wodonga. He then used his animation to interactively compose visual scenes to his friends' electronic music at community dance events which they had set up for the entertainment of underage youth. Olaf's passion for electronic visual art also led him to take interest in electronics. During high school he combined his art classes with his electronics class and produced a laser light and video show to accompany the music for his underage dance events. 

 

Since high school Olaf has obtained formal training in television studio production, animation and screen language, interactive media design, graphic design and sound and video production. Olaf has an Advanced Certificate in Corporate Video Production at NMIT, an Advanced Diploma of Arts in Electronic Design and Interactive Media at RMIT and in 2001 Olaf completed a BA in Multimedia at RMIT.

 

Olaf's research projects whist at RMIT covered topics of experimental human-computer interaction, systems for real-time video compositing, visual trance and non-linear story structures. Some works that resulted from Olaf's research projects at RMIT include the 'Laser Video Harp' - 1998, 10 minutes of 'Visual Trance' to music 'Trance R' by Brendan Shelper - 1999, and the 'Imaginary Space Travel' interactive space - 2001.

 

Since 1998 Olaf has collaborated further with programmers from Oishii multimedia and continued to build and design systems for the interactive performance of his animation. Utilising laser tracking technologies of his own design together with infra red, capacitance, and ultrasonic motion detection devices, Olaf has created several affordable systems which make interacting with sound and video more physical and gestural.

 

One of Olaf's first pieces to demonstrate a more physical approach to generating visual art with the computer was the 'Painting Alien' at the Mind-a-Maze Gallery Melbourne 1998. You would wave your hands in front of the Alien's face to create a digital finger painting behind Olaf's animation.

 

In 1998 Olaf gave a presentation of his interactive visual performances to an Australia wide audience on ABC television's 'Recovery' music program. In the same year Olaf was awarded a $600 Grant by RMIT Union Arts to build his 'Laser Video Harp'. A project to demonstrate an interactive computer interface that allows for the expressive manipulation of visual parameters in real-time. The laser harp is a musical instrument that plays video.

 

The Laser Video Harp has been installed as a public interactive sculpture at many of Melbourne's bigger rave parties. Since its conception, Olaf has toured nationally and internationally, exhibiting and performing with the harp and lecturing on his research topics. The harp was featured at the 2000 NextWave festival Melbourne, where Olaf exhibited the laser harp as an interactive sculpture and also performed with it at the Melbourne Concert Hall. A similar performance, presentation and exhibition was given in Rotterdam, Netherlands as part of the 'Rotterdam 2001, Cultural Capital Fund'. 

The development of the majority of Olaf's work has been self funded through the demand for his work at Festivals and Events, Olaf's work has been exhibited in Australia with private, State Government and Federal Government assistance including Film Victoria, City of Melbourne, FTO, AFC, Australia Council for the Arts.

 

In 2000 whilst studying for his undergraduate degree, and maintaining his small video production business Olaf worked as an animator for a Melbourne based interactive media company where he worked with facial motion capture systems in character development for animated webisodes. In 2000 Olaf also worked in collaboration with performers and choreographers from 'Rock n' Roll Circus' and 'Legs On the Wall' to develop ideas for new shows that utilise his physically interactive multimedia systems to extend the body's movement as an interface to sound and video.

 

In 2002 Olaf provided an interactive video installation for a government initiative to deter young people from taking recreational drugs. The 2002 Mind-a-Maze Gallery of which Olaf is a Member was the first of a range of installation utilising Olaf's 'Fluro Fluffy Chair' interface in his 2nd Video Instrument called the 'Infinity Box'. The Mind-a-Maze Gallery is a Nomadic Gallery presenting the hybridised artforms that create a rave experience amongst performance, music and meditation.

 

Works completed in 2003 are 'Kick the fractal' Olaf Meyer 2002, 'Dressing Mirror' Olaf Meyer 2003, 'Emomentum' Olaf Meyer 2003, and Revision Sue McCauley, Olaf Meyer 2003. 

 

'Kick the fractal' was part of Nextwave Festival 2002, an interactive space where the gallery visitor is invited to play, dance, run and kick fractal images onto a huge inflated balloon. 

 

're_VISION - personal media communicator' comprises treated news images and sounds projected into a large hand blown "Crystal Ball". The installation responds to the human gesture of embracing the ball. It combines custom built v-j software, electronics and multimedia projections.

 

'Emomentum' was an experimental video performance in 2003 at Rainbow Serpent Festival where the biorhythmic effects of basic emotional states were measured using real-time ECG measurement and translated into coherent light and sound triggers.

 

Olaf documents all his projects online at http://olaffalo.i.am/install.htm