Ernest Edmonds: Cities Tango: between Belfast and Sydney
Title:
- Cities Tango: between Belfast and Sydney
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Venue(s):
Medium:
- Two computer displays, webcams and computers, a server computer and Internet connection
Artist Statement:
Cities Tango: Between Belfast and Sydney is an interactive work with two connected screens, one in Sydney Australia and one in Belfast. Cities Tango generates changing colour stripes, mixed with location images, from its internal logic. That logic, however, is changed in response to the audiences in each country. In each location the work picks up images from the screen location and reacts to the degree of motion detected. At the same time, the analysed image information is sent over the Internet to the other location and forms the second influence on the work’s behaviour. Images of and from the remote location are dynamically revealed within the otherwise abstract structure. The colours used, the times of day selected and the pace of the work are influenced in each location by a combination of the detected audience behaviour at both locations. The two cities, Belfast and Sydney, interact with one another across continents and time zones. In particular, the colours, stripes and timings used are driven by movements at the remote location, so that in the European day Belfast will see ‘night’ colours, for example, and Sydney will see ‘day’ ones. On the other hand, the display of real time images from the remote location is influenced by the local audience. Immediate responses to movement are seen by the ‘audience’ in their own location. The live connection is sensed through the real time images of people.
