“Drawings of a Floating World” by Tara Carrigy, Colin O’Sullivan, Neill O’Dwyer

Title:

Drawings of a Floating World

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Exhibiting Artist(s):

Symposium:

ISEA2009: 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Venue(s):

Waterfront Hall , Belfast , Ireland

Medium:

Interactive digital media, projections and paint brushes (bamboo, optical fibre, IR emitting diodes)

Artist Statement:

Drawings of a Floating World is an immersive, responsive digital media environment, which invites participants to engage in a playful, intuitive, kinesthetic and social interaction, through the simple and universally familiar metaphor of drawing and painting. Fluid patterns and sounds are projected on to a series of encircling, floating planes which dynamically respond to participants’ movements and gesture. Digital media is presented as a tangible and malleable medium that can be pushed, pulled, stretched and sculpted. The intention is to initiate a compelling and affective experience through embodied interaction, and to promote spontaneous and open-ended social interaction through ludic engagement and physical action.

Audience involvement is integral to the work, which is co-created in collaboration between the participants, computer system and authors. Generative graphics are drawn in real time by the computer, in response to the behaviour of the participants and in relation to the parameters set by the authors.

The installation uses computer vision and motion tracking techniques to detect movement within the space. Infrared (IR) imaging via live web cam feeds, pick up light transmitted by paintbrushes fitted with IR emitting diodes and map their movement across a series of calibrated screens. Visual and audio responses were programmed using Open Source software programs, including Processing, Pure Data and TouchLib.