Practise!

Here is a pactise patch I've been working on. The quality is quite poor, I've been finding the software animata very buggy and have had to do alot of redesign in regards to illustrations. I am working with a kinect which sends osc messages to Max Msp which then sends messages to animata. Max can only take readings up to 999 and these numbers relate to your position on the x or y axis in Animata, I took quite some time to figure out that the numbers were being sent the pixels in the images used in Animata, I'd been working with quite large images up to 3000 x 3000 which only a third of the image in Animata was being utilised and the images became shortened and deformed.

Anywhoo! I resolved some of these issues and came up with this patch to practise with. The images, sound, animation aren't great but I intend to improve upon this drastically over the next couple of weeks!

 

Animata, Max, Msp, Kinect. from Eva Daly on Vimeo.

Chiho Aoshima

SUPERFLAT artist Chiho Aoshima has had a huge influence over my work, particularly for my interactive installation.  Her work transcends traditional techniques of representation.  Aoshima uses computer software to create beautiful and erotic worlds of ghosts, demons, schoolgirls, and exquisite natural landscapes. 

Her work is printable on any surface; from canvas bags to giant wallpaper installations.  “My work feels like strands of my thoughts that have flown around the universe before coming back to materialize.” 

Aoshima’s work has garnered international renown with a number of high profile projects.  

In 2004, she was invited to participate in the 54th Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, where she unveiled her largest wallpaper piece to date, measuring 106 feet (32.5m ) in length by 15 feet (4.8m ) in height.  In May 2005, as part of the Little Boy project, her ecologically-themed “City Glow” and “Paradise” series covered ad spaces throughout the Union Square subway station in New York, greeting commuters as they passed. 

Illustrations

Here are a couple of the lil guys I've been working, still a lot more to do, but its getting there! The girl character at the bottom is going to be the protagonist of the installation, she will then interact with the other characters as she moves through the installation!  These illustrations were made in photoshop and my new best friend my bamboo drawing tablet!

SHROOOOOOOMS!!

Sketches

Over the last couple of days I've been sketching ideas for my final project, I've trying to come with characters and designs for my installation, so here is a couple of sketches in their early stages which I will later illustrate in photoshop.

Thesis work - Performative Interaction

Project Objectives

The aim of this thesis is to create a visual and auditory interaction space that enables various types of performative interaction.  This exploration of performative interaction will be expressed through an interactive art installation that exploits the aesthetic and ethos of a contemporary Japanese Art Movement known as SUPERFLAT.

Project Motivation

SUPERFLAT is a contemporary Japanese art movement that garnered much acclaim, and became famous internationally, in the early 2000’s.  Artist Takashi Murakami spear headed the movement and coined the phrase SUPERFLAT.  His work, and the general aesthetic of this kind of art is instantly recognizable, the highly refined and super glossy artwork take influence from anime (Japanese animated cartoons) and ukio-e (traditional Japanese block prints).  The work also pays homage to the mass production style of Andy Warhol.  Murakami also works in a factory, similar to Warhol, known as Kai-Kai Ki-Ki.  Murakami depicts outlandish cartoon characters in a neon psychedelic world.  In his work you see the Japanese culture of Kawaii (cute) juxtaposed with a bizarre and violent edge. The central idea behind this movement, that far from it being sugary kitsch, it represents Japans culture today, it exposes the strange response of a population traumatized by the bombing of Hiroshima in World War II.  Post- war Japan was struggling to understand the war, loss and devastating national trauma. Japan also lost a lot of its own identity after the war and adopted many western influences.  These issues are depicted in the cute and idealic artwork, which is laced with irony. Imagery such as a monstrous Mickey Mouse style character puking bile on a landscape is depicted as a being quite cute and colourful.

Traditionally SUPERFLAT is exhibited in a flat printed or painted 2D medium, its digital and interactive capabilities have not been fully embraced or explored.  The main drive for this research it to enrich the viewer experience, that they become performers rather than spectators within this outlandish style of art. 

Performative Interaction

Performative interaction are described by Hespanhol and Tomitsch as those created by the human participation taking place in the public space, driven by the interactive installation and designed with the objective of bringing a community together through playful experiences.  It aims to create an event where members of the public can step out of their usual circumstances and be rewarded by their actions. (Hespanhol and Tomitsch 2012)

Inspiration

http://itp.nyu.edu/bigscreens/?p=92

ITP Big Screens Show _ GOEMUL from Yinan Zhang on Vimeo.

GOEMUL is a live, audio-reactive video installation that features animations synced to live music. Built by Tony Lim and Mehan Jayasuriya with additional animations by Yinan Zhang. GOEMUL was built using Processing, Java, MAX/MSP, Ableton Live and Animata. During the performance, Tony and Mehan will perform live music while various elements will animate in time with the music on the screens behind them.