Idea
It will be an installation that invites people to four different types of space (in a train, at the platform, at the ticketing counter, and outside the train station), engaging them in the ‘live’ story of the fantasies of a child from a divorced family.
Elaboration
A collaboration with a friend of mine in Film, the narrative will be fragmented, telling parts of the life and action that our main character (girl) does in 4 separated yet connected spaces – in a train, at the station platform, at the ticketing counter, and outside the station, through a certain viewpoint.
In this post, i will be talking more about the intention and basis of interaction for the work.
Update:
The four zones will be:
The outside of the train station
This is the area where there will be projection and ambient sound around the surrounding showing the exterior of an MRT station, mainly of bicycle racks. Inviting the viewers further into the space.
MRT Gantry
One of the interaction will be with the gantry that will be present. At the moment, interacting with the gantry will trigger a video nearby within visibility or on the gantry itself, bringing an awareness that they have entered into the space and more events are about to unfold in the space.
Control Room
In this space, we get to experience something not many people do. Being in the control room, having multiple monitors (tentatively 9) in the room that plays the surveillance of the MRT station.
Upon entering, we notice a girl going through the different monitors, as if the cameras are tracking her movements in the train station only.
Platform/Train
In this space, there will be interaction either on the platform or on the train itself.
On the platform, there will be a phone booth, in which the viewers will pick it up, and will trigger a video of someone’s phone ringing, and audio through the phone – as if we are the ones trying to engage with the person.
Another setting would be in the train. Seeing not only the perspective of the girl, but also experiencing it.
For this space, there is an idea to make the ground feel like the train is coming, by using solenoids under lifted platforms to create that effect.
Exit
With all that have happened, we realised that we need to have a form of closure/exit to the installation, instead of leaving them hanging.
As of now, it is possible to have another gantry at the end of the spaces, as if to show the exit of the train station and thus the installation itself.
Possible Lasting Interactions
An idea that we had was to encourage and allow viewers to input their own story into the installation, such that they too become part of the work.
We could either capture their movements in a particular segment of the installation via camera and display the collective footage in part of the space itself.
3 Inspiring Works
Currently, there are 3 works by 3 different artists that are considered in their methods of executing their project. They are Ryoji Ikeda’s Datamatics(2006), Zbig Rybczynski’s Fragments of short film (2010) and George Legrady’s Pocket Full of Memories (2001).
Datamatics (2006)
Ikeda’s Datamatics, taken from http://www.ryojiikeda.com/project/datamatics/
The organisation of the screens and projection is interesting, engaging the viewers not only from the left and right, but also in the pathway, bringing another layer of perspective into the piece.
Fragments of Short Films (2010)
Screenshot of the video from the site https://wn.com/zbigniew_rybczynski
Again with the layout, the placement of multiple screens are interesting, and reminds me of CCTV’s control room. Furthermore, the idea of seeing multiple perspectives at possibly the same moment is something i will explore.
Pocket Full of Memories (2001)
taken from http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=329
This work’s engagement with the viewer uses the camera in the center of the space, and enables the viewers to take a photo of whatever they put inside a given space. The item or lack of it will be projected onto the screen, along with other viewers’.
Tying in with Rybczynski’s work, recording or taking an image of the viewers in the work and displaying them through a method similar to this will help to engage the viewers further.
Update:
Also, a consideration would be Bruce Nauman.
Image of Live-Taped Video Corridor
Looking at how he arranges the space with the camera, the interaction of the work is such that you wanted to go closer to the monitors to see what is being displayed. However, the closer you get, the further you are away from the subject.
Playing with that perception of space, i plan to explore that in the installation too.
Hi Nat. This sounds like an ambitious project that would require perhaps an entire gallery worth of space. Is there a way you would be able to scale the project down so it would work as an FYP installation?
Also, I’m unclear as to the connection between a train and train station, and the narrative which is about the fantasies of a child from a divorced family. Why a train station? What does that have to do with the subjectivity of a child who has come from a divorced family?
What might be a helpful starting point is to specify exactly the stories that are going to be told…and see what the narratives would evoke spatially. For example, if you were inside the living room or kitchen or family room of a house, and you pick up or interact with different objects (a phone, etc) each might trigger a movie projected somewhere (or on the TV?). Each narrative might have something to do with an episode the child remembers from their family dynamics…a fight between the parents, and the fantasy that is created from that episode…etc.