Interstices- Project: Dream

Project: DREAM Instillation Space

Interstices. A word according to the Oxford dictionary refers to the space between things or events. Merriam Webster refers to “interstices” as “a gap or break in something generally continuous”. For our project, we focused on the Interstices found in the state of human consciousness. Human consciousness is a continuous stream of thought according to William James,  the lauded “Father of American Psychology”  whos works integrate both philosophy and psychology. Yet this stream of consciousness breaks in several stages, mostly sleep. Though our mind is still working when we sleep, we enter a subconscious stage where we have no conscious control over our thoughts and actions. We chose to explore the gap between the two stages in the forms of dreams. Humans sleep to refresh their body after several continuous hours of exerting energy,  and dreams are a side effect of human sleep. Dreaming is a clear indicator of the gap between the conscious and subconscious state of consciousness that people experience when sleeping. We chose to recreate this stage by creating an immersive art installation called “Project: Dream”.

Electronic Components Behind the Instillation Space

The installation is made up of three portions; the physical space, the electronic components, and the computers, and the dream inventory. The physical space is made up of a wooden frame with a black cloth covering the faces. The rectangular component was meant to create a sense of intimacy and comfort. The mattress was placed on the floor to elicit the idea of a bed and to make the user feel more comfortable and relaxed. For the electronic components, we used a combination of Arduino and Processing.  An alarm clock with a buzzer and LED strips were placed inside the space. The clock was attached to a computer on the outside of the space, while another computer was synced with the mini projector. The projector displayed the compilation of dream garnered beforehand by the previous user. These dreams are typed into the computer stationed outside of the space, and using processing, is transported to the projector.

Video of the Instillation

The overall experience of Project: Dream begins with the user taking off his or her shoes so that they can enter the installation space sequentially and individually. Once inside the space, the user has the choice to lie down or to sit, whatever makes them more comfortable. And to stimulate sleep, the inside of the space is completely dark. The only two sources of light at that moment is the projection, which represents the dream itself; and the small LCD screen that displays the time. These two pieces are meant to attract you into a trance as if you were truly dreaming. As the user reads the “dream” that appears word by word, the alarm will go off at an unexpected time. The alarm will trigger the LED light strips to go on and off according to the sound of the alarm and the projection will cease to display the story. The alarm will go off for a couple for minutes, as this represents the stage where you wake up. This stage in a sense is the interstices, with elements of the conscious world (the lights and the sound of the alarm) permeate into the state of unconsciousness (sleep). Once the alarm turns off, the lights stay on and the projection stops playing completely. This represents you waking up from your slumber and stepping into reality. Once the user exits the space, he or she has the option of typing down and sharing a previous dream inside the Dream Inventory.

 

This immersive experience is more passive than interactive as the only source of interactivity is typing ones dream after the experience. This is the maximum level of interaction the user must take part in. Originally, we were planning on having the user turn off the alarm button attached to the clock, but due to technical difficulties, was unable to add that function into the product. Project: Dream is a more immersive experience with the screen being projected on all sides of the wall, the intimacy of the room, and the sensory impact of the mattress and dark room. Though the feedback, communications, creativity might be on a higher scale of interactivity; continuums such as control, productivity, and adaptivity are more passive. The feedback response is present though not always physically, the reaction is internally felt by the body and mind. The body starts to feel the effects of the comfortable dark room and when the room starts to react to the alarm, the user’s body also starts to react. In terms of classifying the work based on the “Fundamentals of Digital Art”, Project: Dream falls under a “User has a limited role” in the experience while the interface itself is a “Parallel Real World Experience”. The interface is parallel to the real world as the Arduino itself uses an RTC, which gathers data to give us an accurate reading of the time while waking up on a normal day normally takes 4-5 minutes. The structure of the interface reflects the process of waking up, which in a sense is “Linear”. Though each person is unique and the take away from the experience will be different, there is still a standard procedure that occurs for the user to build upon.

While the project was a team collaboration, each member has certain knowledge and skills that are more beneficial and relevant for the project. In the case for Project: Dream, Alina was responsible with the execution of the Arduino and Processing, while I focused my energy on other aspects such as building and logistics. Alina’s background in installation pieces came in use when considering frame alternatives. Throughout the creation of this instillation we worked on each others strengths and weaknesses.

My experience with this project was very unique and idiosyncratic. This was my first time making a space instillation of this magnitude. Since it was my first time and I had limited experience with Arduino and Processing, I good only try my best and could not contribute any high level critiques or experience. I tried my best to understand the inner workings of Arduino and Processing but could offer only so much. But with the help of my partner, Alina, I was able to better comprehend coding. Another worry I had was that the wooden frame we wanted to use was unavailable, which meant that we had to find our own solution. This led to use creating our own wooden frame from some left over wood and black cloth.

History of Design: Manifesto

       Humans throughout the ages have tried to understand humanity. What sets us apart from any other creation?
       Is it our ability to create or to recreate with our surroundings?
       Our ability to ideate our unique inner thoughts and desires?
       Or a combination of both?
       Humans are intrinsically social animals; we seek a sense of belonging and acceptance from like minded peers. This does not refer to human conformity but merely humanity’s desire to be reminded that they are not alone in this world. This desire for identification and interaction can be seen in this modern era where technology has made room for the development of New Media Art. Humanity also seeks to be stimulated- especially with knowledge. The classic men of the Renaissance to the teachers of the Bauhaus school believed that the act of learning and the gratification of knowledge inspires and motivates human growth. And with the onset of knowledge comes the curiosity for truth. While Deconstructivists chose to break down what was familiar to discover the truth, it is up to the individual to find his or her own method.Though sharing inherent commonalities, humans are idiosyncratic in expression due to varying external sociocultural factors. And when we express we create. We are humans because we uniquely create upon innate characteristics.

 

 

Inspirations

  • New Media Art
  • Bauhaus Art
  • Deconstructvism 
  • Psychology 
  • Nature and Nurture 
  • Integration

Final Research Hyperessay

The history of art begins with the history of humanity- cave paintings. And since then, art has gradually evolves as humanity moves forward. Art is a product of human thought and the resources they have around them, that is why art largely reflected the innovational standings of societies. From bronze tools during the times before settlement to the marble busts after civilizations started to emerge to traditional paints and sketches to now. Now, as technology emerges alongside the development of the online web, streaming, and cloud; art has taken an adventitious turn into the digital and virtual. Humans have now engineered technology and the internet to serve as our media for the arts. From Ivan Sutherland, “Sketchpad” in 1962 to Lynn Hershman’s “Deep Contact” in 1983. Both utilize technology to create an art piece that is both engaging and interactive. In this digitalized game of “Tag” and “Hide-and-Go-Seek”, “I’d Hide You” by Blast Theory, blends both technology with human interaction But who and what is Blast Theory exactly? What is it that they do? Blast Theory is a community of pioneering artists who create interactive art pieces to explore social and political questions. This group was created in 1991 by Matt Adams, Niki Jewett, Will Kittow and Ju Row Farr. The works by this group utilize a multitude of different media; such as performance, installation, video, and online technology. But what makes Blast Theory avant-garde is the way they meld scientific technology with collaborative art. Blast Theory also allows the audience members to play a vital role in the production and outcome of the artwork. This engagement transforms the role of the artist to a viewer and the audience to the artist. In the end, the exploration of social and political questions becomes a more personal and thought-provoking experience for the participants. Some of Blast Theories other well-known works include- “Can You See Me Now?”, “Uncle Roy All Around You”, “Kidnap”, “Gunman Kill Three”, and “Karen.”

“Kidnap” (1998)
Picture from Blast Theory Website

 “Gunman Kill Three” was one of their earliest works and was geared more towards live and performance art. This work and several other early works focused on the club culture to create multimedia performances. Even in their early works interactivity played a key role in the performance. “Kidnap” was one of Blast Theory’s more controversial and risky works due to the issues the piece tackled as well as the methods Blast Theory chose to communicate the message with. “Kidnap” is an interactive and immersive experience that gives the participants a genuine “kidnapping” experience (with their prior consent). Blast Theory wanted to underscore the themes of violence, pornography, and politics. In “Can You See Me Now?” and “Uncle Roy All Around You” are two of their successful multimedia pieces that integrated locative media with mixed reality.

What drew me to Blast Theory was their ability to incorporate technology often associated as “anti-art” with social and political issues to create a stimulating and interactive art piece. This idea of mixing and recreating has always been an important value in my life and to see a group of artists express it so beautifully and simply resonated with me. Not only is Blast Theory feel a source of comfort but also serves as a source of inspiration. Blast Theory stimulates both the audience and themselves with their artworks. The artists within the group constantly try to challenge themselves with new technology, methods, and issues by pushing themselves to be more innovative and courageous.

Picture from Blast Theory

The basic premise of “I’d Hide You” is that people are equipped with live cameras and are divided into teams in which they play a game of tag around the entire city. The immersion lies in the second layer of the piece, in which these cameras send live footage to the internet; allowing anyone to watch the game as if they themselves were running. The interactivity can be experienced in the final layer of the artwork in which the viewer is now a part of the team. The viewer can help the participants find one another by updating online, the location of other runners using the runner’s GPS tracker. This interactivity is not only personal but also collaborative. The outcome of this project can be seen in the video below by Blast Theory who summarizes the entire event.

 

Unlike the other works by Blast Theory, “I’d Hide You” is not a politically or socially stimulating piece meant to impress eager enthusiasts. Instead, “I’d Hide You” is a simple game that interacts with, collaborates together, and immerses oneself in the experience. When creating this collaborative work, the artists took the most rudimentary form of interactive games, running. This simple idea of running and catching has been a form of human entertainment even before the onset of technology. For example, physical games like “tag” and animated cartoons such as “Tom and Jerry” revolve around the idea of a runner and a chaser. The entertainment comes from the adventure the runner and chaser experience during their journey as well as the ultimate conclusion that follows the long arduous journey. The participants of “I’d Hide You” get to experience this entire journey alongside the runners.

From the Blast Theory Website

During our History of Design class, as mentioned by our Professor, New Media art contains three aspects that make it unique and stand apart from any other forms of art. Interactivity. Hypermedia. Immersion. Under interactivity, there is also collaboration, which I believe is also very important in the work that I chose by Blast Theory.”I’d Hide You”. There is aspects of Hypermedia in this work but is limited to the interface used by the team in order to communicate with the runners as well as the live streaming cameras used to document the chase.

The interface

The interactivity in “I’d Hide You” can be seen between the runners themselves as well as the audience and the runners. The interaction between the runners refers to the actual game of chase where each person is trying to hide from other runners while simultaneously catching them on camera. The interaction between the runners and audience is documented by the audience watching the live stream and helping the runners. Through this journey, the participants and the runners become collaborators who have created a whole new experience and outcome by dabbling with the different variabilities in the work.

Variability. One of the five Principles of New Media discussed by Lev Manovich. In “I’d Hide You”, variability, is the strongest principle as the integration of multiple human interactions have created a multitude of different end results. Not only is there a man to man interaction but also a man to machine interaction. And technology itself is interacting with the audience as the technology communicates with the “performers”. As the audience inserts themselves in this experience with the use of technology, they themselves have become “performers”.

 

A scene from “I’d Hide You”

This immersion into the experience happens both virtually online as well as physically offline. The physical immersion occurs amongst the runner as they are literally thrust into the outside world to compete. The environment is completely candid as none of the passerby or store owners were told were told of the game. The virtual part of this piece materializes onto the digital screen through the live streaming video. This video is made possible by the camera and LED ring light each runner is equipped with before the start of the game. The runners are also given GPS trackers to constantly locate and update their location online, as well as given a phone that updates them to Intel given by their team members. The runner is constantly holding up the camera for their team members to see, this makes the participants the runner’s new “eyes”. Eventually, the participant immerses himself or herself into the experience and becomes one with the runner. Not only does the participant get to see what the runner sees, but he or she also gets to see it in real time. This real-time immersion can be seen in older works such as Ivan Sutherland’s “Head-Mounted Display” and newer games like “Pokemon Go!”. Real-time immersion makes the experience seem legitimate and consuming.

 

Picture from Blast Theory

“I’d Hide You” is a simplistic and exhilarating game that brings together different people for a fun night together. Using modern technology, the artwork contains both a collaborative interactivity and immersive quality; which allows for a wide range of variability. These are the characteristics and principles that define New Media. Participants follow runners on a tour of the nightlife in the city while playing a rigorous yet digital game of Tag and Hide-and-Go-Seek.

Key Work Selection: I’d Hide You

I’D HIDE YOU by Blast Theory

For my Hyperessay, I chose a new media piece by Portslade-based artists’ group, Blast Theory, renown for their works that mix interactive media, digital broadcasting and live performance. The piece is an interactive, immersive, and collaborative work called, “I’d Hide You”. Linked below is the trailer for Blast Theory’s, “I’d Hide You”.

The basic premise of “I’d Hide You” is that people are equipped with live cameras and are divided into teams in which they play a game of tag around the entire city. The immersion lies in the second layer of the piece, in which these cameras send live footage to the internet; allowing anyone to watch the game as if they themselves were running. The interactivity can be experienced in the final layer of the artwork in which the viewer is now a part of the team, he or she can help the runners and chaser find one another through GPS location by updating the online the location of the other runner’s location.  This interactivity is not only personal but also collaborative. The outcome of this project can be seen in the video below by Blast Theory who summarizes the entire event.

Unlike the other works by Blast Theory, “I’d Hide You” is not a politically or socially stimulating piece meant to impress eager enthusiasts but instead a simple form of interacting with, collaborating together, and immersing oneself in the experience. When creating this collaborative work, the artists took the most rudimentary form of interactive games, filming oneself running. This simple idea of running and catching has been a form of human entertainment even before the onset of technology.  For example, physical games like “tag”  and animated cartoons such as “Tom and Jerry” revolve around the idea of a runner and a chaser. The entertainment comes from the adventure the runner and chaser experience during their journey as well as the ultimate conclusion that follows the long arduous journey. In the case of the participants for I’d Hide You, they get to experience this entire journey alongside the runners.

“For all its apparent simplicity as a player experience, “I’d Hide You” is actually doing something very radical in terms of its relationship with an audience and with space.”

From the Blast Theory Website

During our History of Design class, as mentioned by our Professor, New Media art contains three aspects that make it unique and stand apart from any other forms of art. Interactivity. Hypermedia. Immersion. Under interactivity, there is also collaboration, which I believe is also very important in the work that I chose by Blast Theory.”I’d Hide You”, as mentioned before, contains interaction, collaboration, and immersion. There is Hypermedia in this work, but it is limited to the interface used by the team in order to communicate with the runners as well as the live streaming cameras used to document the chase.

Picture from Blast Theory

The interactivity in “I’d Hide You” can be seen between the runners themselves as well as the audience and the runners. The interaction between the runners refers to the actual game of chase that they are playing where each person is simultaneously trying to hide from other runners while catching them. The interaction between the runners and audience is documented by them watching the live stream and helping the runners either hide or find each other. Through this journey, the participants, runners, and artists all become collaborators who have created a whole new experience and outcome by dabbling with the different variabilities in the work. Variability. One of the five Principles of New Media discussed by Lev Manovich. In “I’d Hide You”, variability, is the strongest principle as the integration of multiple human interactions have created a multitude of different end results. Not only is there a man to man interaction but also a man to machine, or even a machine to man interaction. The audience is also interacting with technology (and vice versa) as they use it as a tool to communicate with the “performers”. But by inserting themselves in this experience with the use of technology, they themselves have become “performers”.

A scene from “I’d Hide You”

This immersion into the experience happens both virtually online as well as physically offline. The physical immersion occurs amongst the runner as they are literally thrust into the outside world to complete this piece. The places they are running around are completely candid with none of the passerby or store owners having been told what was happening prior to the game. The virtual part of this piece materializes onto the digital screen in through the live streaming video. This video is made possible by the camera and LED ring light each runner is equipped with before the start of the game. The runners are also given GPS trackers to constantly locate and update their location online, as well as given a phone that updates them to Intel given by their team members. The runner is constantly holding up the camera for their team members to see, this makes the participants the runner’s new “eyes”. Eventually, the participant immerses himself or herself into the experience and becomes one with the runner. Not only does the participant get to see what the runner sees, but he or she also gets to see it at real time. This real-time immersion can be seen in older works such as Ivan Sutherland’s “Head-Mounted Display” and newer games like “Pokemon Go!”.

The interface

“I’d Hide You” is a simplistic and exhilarating game that brings together different people for a fun night together. Participants follow runners on a tour of the nightlife in the city while playing a rigorous yet digital game of Tag and Hide-and-Go-Seek.