Displayed by Global Connection and Gigapan - a joint project of Carnegie Mellon University, Google Earth, NASA Ames & National Geographic

Four years in the making, "Cosmic Tree Of Life" is Roger Ferragallo’s digital mural combining subject matter and medium with audience participation.  Ferragallo renders hundreds of details, from a butterfly's wing to majestic galaxies. In the artist's words, "I wish to convey the vastness of space from the micro and terrestrial to the wonder and grandeur of the universe beyond.”  The mural sized mega-pixel painting spans 25 ft x 15 ft (32,400 x 16,872 x 300 dpi).

Now seen on Gigapan, "Cosmic Tree Of Life" takes full advantage of powerful Google Earth gigapixel-scale zoom and pan tools that are interactive and very easy to use.  http://www.cosmictreeoflife.net .  “Gigapan allows global audiences to participate with a fine art painting, in real time, outside the walls of museums and galleries in a manner that establishes a new aesthetic borne from the digital age”, Ferragallo explains.

Ferragallo's goal was to create an interactive painting viewable in the same photonic light in which it was created. To accomplish this he set out to find and, if necessary, develop tools to deliver this experience. The first opportunity came in 2005 when the University of California at Irvine announced they had created the largest scalable high resolution computer display in the world, measuring 23 ft. x 9 ft (HIPerWall).  It was here that Cosmic Tree Of Life was first exhibited in December 2005.  http://www.ferragallo.com:80/tol_index.html .  

In September, 2007, Ferragallo’s wider vision of interactive audience participation for "Cosmic Tree Of Life" came when he discovered Gigapan.  A monumental visual display system, Gigapan comes from The Global Connection Project, a joint effort of Carnegie Mellon University, NASA Ames, Google Earth and National Geographic. These organizations invite professional and non professional photographers from around the world to upload and exhibit panoramic photographs to http://www.gigapan.org , creating a global repository accessible by anyone, anywhere, 24 hours a day.  By exhibiting Ferragallo’s masterwork, the Global Connection project successfully expanded its scope and is now seriously studying the inclusion of the fine arts in their mission.

*The Global Connection Project: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~globalconn/
*HIPerWall: http://vis.eng.uci.edu/cg/projects/hiperwall/

Contact:
Roger Ferragallo
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
www.ferragallo.com
Phone: 510-222-4334

###