Interactive Art at the Science Gallery

After an enjoyable day in Limerick at the Tweak Festival (article below), I was treated to some more interactive art/installations in Dublin. On Friday, 19th September (19 - 21st September), The Science Gallery opened ArtBots, an event exhibiting robotic art and art making robots. The exhibition boasted 15 unique and varying exhibits, ranging from a rubix-cube solving robot, who successfully solved the puzzle in under 40 seconds, to a 20-foot long, sound generating, spring steel band that emulates the onset of a storm.

"Once purely cerebral experiences are transformed into tangible experiences" - 'What It Is Without The Hand That Wields It'.

A personal favourite was Riley Harmon's 'What It Is Without The Hand That Wields It'. This installation consisted of a Counter-Strike server linked via a micro controller to blood-transfusion bags containing fake blood. When a player is killed in the game, a signal is transferred to electronic solenoid valves in a particular bag, and blood is spilled onto the floor. What I like about Riley's work is that he makes the gaming experience more tangible to a player or viewer. If a player kills, or is killed, they are often so far removed from reality that the player doesn't think twice the actual act of killing an, albeit computer generated, character. Riley's work makes for literal bloodshed. I spoke to him briefly at the event and was stunned to hear that he received negative feedback from the computer game industry who claimed that his work was 'pretentious'. I can't say I agree. I can understand why computer game manufacturers might be concerned with people suggesting the ethics of their publications are in doubt, but I don't believe that this project is intended to highlight moral issues. I think it's more based on heightening the experience of the viewer or player, engaging other senses, making it more physical.


'Telematic Drum Circle'

Another interactive art work I'd like to mention was by electronic artist Byeong Sam Jeon. His work, 'Telematic Drum Cirlce', consisted of a number of drum and percussion instruments, manned by pneumatic air control valve robots, which would react in real time to a user's control via the web. Telematic Drum Cirlce allowed internet users to collaborate via this website to create and partake in an improvised, online music collaboration.



From Wednesday 24th - Sunday 28th September, Trinity's MSc Multimedia Systems hosted their graduate exhibition for 2008. The event

My choice of the lot was an interactive, touch screen installation named 'Drawings of a Floating World', pictured above, by Tara Carrigy, Néill O'Dwyer, Colin O'Sullivan and Scott Wade. Made of 3 infra-red touch screen interfaces, the installation surrounded the viewer creating a truly immersive environment. The graphic work was created using Java-based Processing and the viewer interacted by brushing an optical-fiber paintbrush over the screen, triggering reactive animations. One of my favourite parts of these installations is watching the public take part in the installation and this work succeeded in engaging an enthusiastic crowd. Information on the event can be seen here.

It was a nice finish to a rather Interactive Art packed week.