Concept:
With space as a fundamental factor in our interactive video installation we recorded the action of laughing with the intention to use the videos in space and see how they work and in which way the context is changed.
Space can give different meanings to every video and can potentially make the viewer wonder what he is looking at…
In our previous presentation of the work, we chose to project the videos on windows facing a street near clubs and main tram stops. Video and sound were activated (starting to laugh) when someone passes in front of the window. The videos were projected in small scale so that they fit the windows and the sound was generated by piezzo electric elements attached on the windows, so the windows themselves were vibrating and acting as speakers.
The installation was working all day long and the projected figures were “laughing” at a wide range of people passing by, from people walking to their work or waiting for their tram, to people coming from the clubs next door to urinate, causing different kind of reactions.
Technical Description:
Each video is back projected on one window. The windows are painted with a thin layer of semitransparent white paint. The area in front of the windows is monitored by a surveillance camera and when people pass the motion detection is transferred through a micro controller to the computer. With the use of Max/Msp/Jitter software, the video and the sound is triggered. The sound from the computer is amplified and sent to the piezzo electric elements that are attached on the windows and vibrate them, making them act as speakers. When there is no motion detected the videos go back to a standby video loop position which is silent.
