experiment

november 2000

movies:

Experiment was my first venture into using a computer rig to control sound in real time by moving objects. I had created passive objects and wanted active environments in which the viewer is transformed into participant. My interest in electronic music composition and working with computers has often created priority conflicts between what I wanted to accomplish as an artist and what I wanted to compose as a musician. Three years prior to this piece it became evident to incorporate these different artistic disciplines into my sculptural work and the interactions of an audience. After working with the several different sensors and devices in my recent work, especially in Fuzzy Spheres and Inflatable Spheres, I began a two-year research process during my graduate studies to find computer interfaces and programs that could connect to a physical object (sculptures). I wanted to trigger sound by the presence and participation of an audience. By consulting experts via the internet and seeking out the possibilities of computer programs and hardware designed for multimedia or interactive installation art I found a solution to my needs that were accessible and affordable to the consumer. Originally designed for dancers, the technology I am now using allows a computer to "sense" the viewer’s interaction with my sculptures in the gallery and respond with sound in real time according to proximity, velocity of movement, and color. It was important that the sounds be abstract, as I wish to describe the age of infants before language association to particular sounds. In "experiment", a forty-inch red rubber ball triggered the sound as the participant moved the ball. The room was mapped out into zones, each with a distinct sound corresponding to where the ball is placed and moved.