Thrival Interactive

Highlights from Thrival 2019

September 18th, 2019 • Carnegie Museum of Art • Pittsburgh, PA

What is Thrival Interactive?


For the third consecutive year in 2019, Thrival Festival came together with the Carnegie Museum of Art to present Thrival Interactive, an evening that explored the intersection of art and technology. Staying true to Thrival Festival's motto, "By Pittsburgh. For Pittsburgh. For the World.", Thrival partnered with over a dozen organizations to bring the event to life. Thrival Interactive featured workshops, art installations, performances, and more that expanded on the theme "Digital and Virtual Worlds". Ponder how digitalization effects our daily lives through interactive displays that question the reality around you.

Explore last year's event

MHTH (Pittsburgh):

In the early 21st Century, the “self” has become increasingly defined by the accumulation, aggregation, and interpretation of massive amounts of personal data. With the rise of ever-present high-powered mobile devices, social media, and artificial intelligence, our own personal data has become a digital avatar that is potentially “more human than human” [MHTH]  and often carries a higher degree of (perceived) value than our physical presence. Heavy’s work critically investigates this dilemma by using cultural datasets from the City of Pittsburgh’s Open Data Portal to construct a new version of the self. Specifically, the latitude and longitude of all of the public playgrounds in Pittsburgh were digitally interconnected with a 3D lattice and laid over a wireframe skull mesh. These datasets were chosen because they are representative of a child’s outdoor activity and social engagement. However, these traditional physical, social sites have been increasingly supplanted by impersonalized online activities. As a result, our “selves” are constructed by our accumulated data in social media and virtual playgrounds, rather than real ones.

Heavy Projects | Mural Design: BC Biermann |Augmented Reality Design: BC Biermann, Chris Nunes, Adam Goodchild

Digital Orchestra Workshop

New in 2019, Thrival partnered with legendary conductor Matt Butler of the Everyone Orchestra, and Gil Teixeira, inventor of CEEMI, to run a digital orchestra workshop. Guests learned to play an instrument in minutes using CEEMI’s platform and became members of Butler’s band. As part of the Everyone Orchestra, Butler has conducted musicians from a variety of internationally known bands, such as Phish, Dead & Company, Widespread Panic, Pink Floyd, Disco Biscuits, and more. CEEMI’s platform seeks to give all people, regardless of musical ability, the chance to feel the human connection of playing music with one another. 

Learn more about Everyone Orchestra and CEEMI.

Warhol.mov

The culmination of technology and the arts has brought about a modern aged renaissance resulting in some of the most incredible innovations in entertainment and art. Andy Warhol was one of the artists at the forefront of this transformation. His experimentation with screen printing, film, and other mediums helped pave the way for the modern landscape of art that we enjoy today. I 2 Iconic created a digital replication of Warhol’s famous 1986 Self Portrait in order to pay tribute to his never ending pursuit of innovation.

Learn more about i2iconic.

RAM 2.0

How does a bottled-up memory take shape in your mind when it is released? From fleeting moments to profound experiences, how do you relive what has been set aside, out of sight, out of mind?

Driven by audience choice, this interactive performance layered movement on top of video projection to explore the things we bottle up. From colorless scenes, emotion floods into each memory through dance and music. The brief vignettes led viewers through a collective recollection of random accumulated memories.

Learn more about Attack Theatre.

Until You Fall

From the team behind I Expect You To Die comes this visually stunning VR sword fighting game. Melee and magic fuse to deliver a satisfying combat experience in which you are the master of your own martial style.

Guests battle their way through a corrupted landscape and the twisted denizens born from the Calamity. Fight, gather Aether, forge new weapons, and grow stronger.

Learn more about Schell Games.

Tech Demo Tables

Pittsburgh has become known as a hub for new innovations and technology. Explore the Tech Demo Tables to see and experience a variety products from local startups, non-profits, and corporations.

Participants include: Connect Wolf, PNC Bank, PGH 360, Fine Art Miracles, Panacea, and many more.

Michael Walsh

A note from the artist: My Artistic practice is centered around the forward progression of my esthetic. I am on the artist’s journey of discovery, the forever student. My self study of art history, architecture, and design merge with my root aesthetic style writing to create a unique visual language that can traverse from medium to medium. My vocabulary is contour, form, process, innovation, and dynamic movement.

Through a stream of conscious and unconscious decisions my inner dialogue renders finished works. It is further my intention to create beauty in a utopian way, presenting the connection between things I instinctively recognize. My process of channeling music to create composition is intrinsic in all of my formal compositions, it acts as a catalyst connecting to emotions and rhythms allowing a stream of conscious approach in the creation of my work. By engaging in both tactile and digital mediums it is my goal to make the art of my time.

Learn more about Michael Walsh.

Thrival Pop-Up Theater

Thrival partnered with Film Pittsburgh to present films from the Pittsburgh Shorts film festival. The pop-up theater featured a series of films under 40 minutes and gave attendees stories to wonder in group discussions.

Film Pittsburgh presents independent films from around the world, encouraging audiences to discover the stories, history, and common experiences that connect us all. The organization focuses on films that promote cultural dialogue and diversity, and our programs are designed to reach people of all races, religions, ages, and abilities. Last year’s Pittsburgh Shorts screened 93 films, 8 of which went on to be shortlisted for the Academy Award, 4 were nominated, and our Jury Prize winner for Best Documentary, also won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject.

Learn more about Film Pittsburgh.

Thrival Silent Disco

For the second year, Thrival partnered with local company Frequency528 to bring the dance party to Thrival Interactive in 2019. Guests picked up a headset and tuned into our diverse music lineup.

Thrival Interactive welcomed newcomer to the DJ world, Andy Chan, a local business owner who has made waves performing at a variety of local events, including the recent AI Launch Party. Then, guests got down to Pittsburgh native, DJ FEMI, a recent featured artist at South by Southwest in Austin.

Explore Our 2018 Event


Below is a 360 video captured at the 2018 Thrival Interactive Experience Event. The video shows performances, art installations, and technology demos from a wide range of local and nation artists and innovators.