Plutopia at SXSW 2008 Interactive March 10, 2008

March 2, 2008

For Immediate Release: PLUTOPIA: THE LAST VIEWING OF THE FLOGISTON VIRTUAL REALITY CHAIR

Contact: Jo Rae Di Menno, Press Agent at 512.236.0969, to schedule an interview and request promotional materials
Re: A SXSWi multifaceted extravaganza at Scholz Garten Emphasizing Convergence, Sustainability, Futurism and Art

Date: Monday, March 10, 2008
Venue: Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto, 512.477.4171
Time: 6:00pm-12:00am

Cover Charge: $10 at the door or it’s free with a costume and/or your SXSWi badge. Renting or buying costumes, makeup and props from Austin’s own legendary Lucy in Disguise contributes 20% of sales to EFF-Austin. Food and cash bar provided.

Please visit our website: http://plutopia.org/




“This will be the last time I'll show this chair in public. It's over 17 years old and shows it. It's had famous bums in it - Timothy Leary, Brian Eno, Magic Johnson (!) others less so - Thomas Dolby, astronauts, and thousands of others, shown in New York galleries, numerous magazine articles, been used in NASA zero G simulators, been seen on CNN, and shown at many exhibits and conferences. So it's had an interesting life. I had thought of re-upholstering it for the show, but with a skin like that how could I? I designed it to fit me, so it's always been my chair, and I like its memories. It has a twin in New York that was built at the same time, and was recently re-hung. My chair has never been shown in the suspended version, its true design, so that is how we will do it for the show.” -Brian Park

A narrative by the Flogiston Chair

“I was born in Austin in 1990 along with my twin. I am now 18 and have decided to retire from public life, so Plutopia will be my last show. I’ve had a very interesting life, conceived from an idea to bring the posture of zero gravity to Earth for rest and meditation, but adopted as a chair for virtual reality as soon as I was skinned. My first public show was an all night VR extravaganza in San Francisco called Cyberthon. I was in the movie The Lawnmower Man with Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey, and that led to magazine covers and TV shows. I was written about in Art Forum, and Omni and Wired and even Design News. I even showed at Siggraph and Robofest. I was famous! For 14 minutes!

Then my Maker got a grant from NASA to develop me as a training system for astronauts, and mounted me on a motion base that made me sick when he moved me about. Fortunately I was just a prototype and he replaced me with a derivative that had a big projection dome on it. I took a back seat to those, and rested quietly for long periods, only to be dragged out for new shows and to test new screens. He tried to test me to destruction, but couldn’t do it, I was too tough. Now my skin is old and wrinkled and torn, and my last minute of fame is here. My maker is showing me the way he intended, suspended on cables with a big wrap around screen. I’d like to thank all the bottoms that sat on me, and hope that I provided them with the comfort and relaxation that my Maker intended. It was a wonderful life. Thank you all.”

Plutopia also features immersive theme rooms, music, interactive digital and performance art, robots, singing tesla coils, theremins, music and a talk by author and sustainability futurist Bill McKibben.

For further information regarding Plutopia please contact Jo Rae Di Menno at 512.236.0969 for live-on airs and interviews.

Official Website: http://plutopia.org/