Stephen Slappe

Born in 1973 in Charleston, WV (USA)
Lives and works in Portland, OR (USA)

Stephen Slappe is an artist and educator based in Portland, Oregon, USA. Slappe states this about his practice: “Using video, sound, installation, and interactivity, I playfully dismantle and rebuild images in an effort to understand their meaning and power. Recently, my practice has been centered on establishing alternative models of education built around increasing media literacy and introducing the tools of media production to underserved communities.” His work has been exhibited and screened in venues such as Centre Pompidou-Metz, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's Time-based Art Festival, The Transart Trienniale (Berlin), The Horse Hospital (London), The Sarai Media Lab (New Delhi), Consolidated Works (Seattle), Centre for Contemporary Art (Glasgow), and Artists Television Access (San Francisco). Slappe is an Associate Professor at Pacific Northwest College of Art where he heads the Video & Sound department. His most recent projects include an immersive iOS app entitled 8, available on iTunes and Future Forum, an experimental education program at Open Signal, a community media center in Portland, OR.

Part short film, part game, and part video installation, 8 is an iOS app that places users in the middle of an immersive video environment where physically moving your device reveals events unfolding and repeating around you. Users can wander through a maze of 24 looping scenes by simply tapping the screen. Navigation symbols can be used to learn patterns of movement through the app but there is no real beginning or end. 8 was designed as a kind of anti-app in that it emphasizes physical space and movement while frustrating the user's desire to have complete control over the direction of their on-screen experience.