Hooked on Holograms: Area of Design Features Holographic Artist Al Razutis

Area of Design, an organization dedicated to building a premier educational resource for art and design, interviews the brilliant and iconic holographic artist, Al Razutis.

With over 40 years in the industry, Al Razutis' is an internationally recognized multimedia artist, educator and innovator in motion-picture film and video, holographic art and technologies, stereoscopic 3D video art, and web-digital graphics for websites and interactive 3D virtual reality.

His films have received a number of awards, including a 1988 Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and his media art works are found in a number of international collections and have been exhibited internationally, including a 1997 stereoscopic 3D video showing at the Louvre, a 2002 film-video retrospective at the Electronic Media Arts Festival in Osnabruck, Germany, and a 2004 exhibition of 3D video, film, video at SeNef, Seoul, Korea.

Area of Design asked Razutis, "How did you get into the realm of holograms?" Razutis said, "After working in film and 3D, I stumbled upon one example, a small hologram by accident. This happened at a science open house at a university, they were showing a small clear plastic item illuminated by a pure red (laser) light and the image was in space, clearly visible! I was astounded, enchanted, and asked, "How was this done?" The person attending said, "It was called "holography", a new form of 3D scientific imaging, using newly invented lasers, and for more information I would have to go to the library," I headed straight to the library and from there, taught myself holography, the science and techniques required to make holograms. Later on, I built a studio and decided that my interest would be to "make holographic art".

My background is in physics and chemistry, which certainly helped me in learning the techniques. Some artists that have approached this medium came from photography, some from film, some from unrelated fields to this (holography). The different backgrounds for each person creating with holograms results in a diversity of expressions which is a great thing when a medium is just being born.

When you see a hologram for the first time, you will either get hooked by what you are looking at, or not. For me, the enchantment was instantaneous. I could see the future clearly in what holography was. It was the future of 'imaging' and within it was a remarkable capacity for art."

Read the full interview and see examples of Al Razutis' work visit: www.areaofdesign.com

Area of Design is giving away FREE 3D glasses and encourage you to dive deeper into his virtual world of holographic art and fantasy. To participate visit: http://areaofdesign.com/free-3d-glasses/