[NetBehaviour] The State of Swift Production: Interactivos? ¹ 08 (part 2 of 3)

[Eduardo Navas]

The State of Swift Production: Interactivos?¹08 (part 2 of 3), by Eduardo
Navas

Access this article with proper images at http://remixtheory.net/?p=319

Image: Interactivos?¹08 Collaborators, June 14, 2008 (click to view larger
image)

Also see Part 1: http://remixtheory.net/?p=315

The projects for Interactivos?¹08 were completed on Saturday June 14, just
in time for the exhibition opening scheduled for 6:30 PM. When the project
proposals were initially presented during the first two days of the
workshops and lectures of May 30 and 31, it was quite understandable if
anyone in the audience, and even among the collaborators and artists doubted
the completion of the proposals in just two weeks, given their complexity.
Fortunately, all projects were up and running.

The key element to meet the deadline was the fact that artists did not work
alone, as some people may expect of studio artists, who from time to time
might hire or ³collaborate² with say a printmaker, or a metalcaster. In
Interactivos?¹08 collaborators had an incredibly important role to play in,
both, decision making as well as actual execution of the works. How much
this was so of course varied from project to project, but it is safe to say
that there was a certain consensus in the air which was that artists and
collaborators live up to the possibility of working together for a common
goal, and that they truly contribute in all levels of the creative process,
even if some of the work developed did not become part of the final product.
Had artists and collaborators not believed this, the selected projects would
not have been completed on time, if at all. Upon asking many participants
about their role in the overall production of the projects, this sense of
contribution was confirmed.

Critiques and informal discussions took place throughout the two weeks,
which were extremely important to bring together everyone who participated;
and, as would be expected, some fruitful modifications came about.

Image: ³Stage Fright² by Nova Jiang

Some projects were more open for interpretation and development than others.
For instance, ³Stage Fright² by Nova Jiang, was proposed to consist of a
swing linked to a movement sensor which sends a signal to a computer to
trigger a selected video projection. The footage was edited to go forward
and back as the user swings in front of the projection, thus creating a
physical relationship between the projected video and the user¹s action.
This project allowed collaborators to come up with video content of their
preference that ranged from shots of dusk till dawn as well as of an
Afro-Colombian man swinging upside down, with his hands almost touching the
ground.

Image: ³Daedalus_ex_Machina [DexM]² by Walter Langelaar

³Daedalus_ex_Machina [DexM]² by Walter Langelaar changed as the artist
considered possibilities of both code and the actual space available to
exhibit. Langelaar¹s initial proposal was a formal and conceptual exercise
of the Droste Effect, but as he began to develop the code and talk to
various collaborators, he decided to modify the project to be an open ended
implementation of the Recursive Descent Parser, which he implemented as a
large projection of the Medialab¹s entry hall, in the entry hall, itself.
The final project shows a detailed 3-D rendering of the Medialab¹s entrance,
which omits persons who are walking in or out of the lab; however, they
appear on the screen inside of the 3-D rendering. The end result is that the
Medialab¹s entrance repeats everytime, but the viewer who is entering or
leaving the space does not appear in the 3-D renderings.

Image: ³Immodesty² by Karolina Sobenka

A project open for contribution of content from anyone, especially outside
of the Medialab is ³Immodesty² by Karolina Sobenka. In this case, however,
while there was a lot of input in creating a rig consisting of several
digital cameras set up to shoot a sequence reminiscent of the Matrix¹s
famous Bullet Shot, the actual content, according to the artist, can keep on
changing. The installation presents a basic example of the interaction of
the viewer and the projection. In ³Immodesty,² a movement sensor is also
used to detect the position of the viewer within the horizontal space
directly in front of the projection. The sensor triggers a projected photo
sequence that moves back and forth according to the movement of the user.
The footage used for the Medialab presentation was a series of shots of all
the collaborators who worked with Sobenka, which gives them prominent
recognition in the creative process.

Image: ³augment(0)scope² by Eloi Maduel

³augment(0)scope² by Eloi Maduell was open for content development. Maduell
envisioned an optical box that presented images from across the world in
some abstract form. He was quite open for suggestions because he had not
defined the layout of the images as well as the type of images to be
presented. In the end he decided to develop social commentary on world
pollution. He contacted Greenpeace, who provided him with a large database
of images. The majority of the images were landscapes, which allowed Maduell
to categorize and assemble the images as a large spiral that can be
navigated freely while viewing inside the visual box through a small whole.
The viewer decides where to go in the virtual space by moving back and forth
the special handles located on both sides of the device.

Image: ³Spiral Drawing² by Esther Polak

The rest of the projects stayed close to the original proposal only allowing
collaborators to contribute mainly in problem solving. ³Spiral Drawing² by
Esther Polak, which consists of a robot that moves in the form of a spiral,
fast if the sunlight is bright or slow if the sun is dim, was very much
executed as originally described in the proposal. Polak considers the work
to allude to our current concerns of global warming. Selected drawings as
abstract documents of the process were shown inside the gallery, while the
actual sand drawing was shown in the courtyard.

Image: ³M.A.S.K. (My Alter Self Konsciousness)² by Jordi Puig

M.A.S.K. (My Alter Self Konsciousness) by Jordi Puig allowed for quite a bit
of problem solving in terms of code writing and debugging, but like Polak¹s
the project also stayed close to the original concept.

Image: ³Expanded Eye² - Anaísa Franco

The same is true for ³Expanded Eye² - Anaísa Franco, which consists of the
viewer¹s eye (left or right, depending on the viewer¹s choice) to be
projected inside of a transparent sphere. With each blink the eye multiplies
and very shortly the visitor finds herself viewing hundreds of reproductions
of her eye. The viewer essentially is looking at herself.

Image: ³360º score² by Philippe Chatelain (artist working with installation
drawing in the background)

³360º score² by Philippe Chatelain is also quite close to what the artist
envisioned. Chatelain also originally wanted to create a sound installation
defined by, both, how the viewer moved across the room as well as how the
viewer manipulated manually a laser which read an abstract geometrical
drawing in order to produce sound. For the installation at the Medialab,
Chatelain opted to develop the former.

Image: ³Biophionitos² by Paola Guimerans, Horacio González, and Igor
González (wooden box for exhibition being constructed, just hours before
exhibition¹s opening.)

³Biophionitos² by Paola Guimerans, Horacio González, and Igor González also
stayed true to the original proposal. Collaborators found creative
possibilities in developing text copy and translating it to English as well
as shooting and editing an instruction video which showed how to create your
own smart pet with basic materials such as cardboard and glue. The idea
behind Biophionitos is to create an updated version of a Zoetrope which
presents an interactive animation of a ³virtual pet² that reacts to the
person¹s speech and proximity.

Image: ³BLOOP² by Martin Nadal

Finally, ³BLOOP² by Martin Nadal is another project that stayed close to the
original premise. The user can choose a still from a video sequence to then
draw on it with an interface similar to design programs like Photoshop and
Illustrator. Once the still is adjusted as desired, the user can choose to
view the video sequence, which consists of frames that have been altered by
various gallery visitors. Nadal eventually would like to develop further the
project so that online users can also contribute their own video, to then
allow others to draw on each frame as described above.

As previously stated, it is quite remarkable that all of these projects were
developed in just two weeks. Medialab-Prado has created a platform where
artists can come together and develop work in a very short period of time.
How successful each project may be in the long run can only be decided with
reflection and openness to the ongoing discourse of art practice. Artists
and collaborators of Interactivos?¹08 are aware of this, and many of them
opted for calling their projects ³prototypes² which can be improved in the
near future. Interactivos?¹08, then, successfully brings together many of
the key elements that make new media production so appealing to contemporary
art practice. Medilab-Prado understands the importance of global
collaboration, but most importantly, it understands that bringing together
people who may live in different parts of the world to a local setting to
collaborate may be the best way to foment international relations through
local investment.

Interactivos?¹08 Collaborators:
Abraham Manzanares, Alexander Narváez, Álvaro Cassinelli, Ana Montejana,
Anaísa Franco, Ángela Ramos, Carla Capeto, CarlesGutiérrez, Carlos Corpa,
Carlos Panero, Clayton Shaw, Coco Moya, Colette Laliberté, Cristina Branco,
Daniel Canogar, Daniel Fernández, Daniel Pietrosemoli, Eduardo Navas, Edwin
Dertien, Eloi Maduell, Esther Polak, Felipe delÁguila, Gabriel Lucas,
Guillermo Casado, Gwenn Joyaux, Horacio González, Igor González, Izaskum
Escandón, Jacqueline Steck, Jordi Puig, José Miguel Medrano, Julian Oliver,
Karolina Sobecka, Laura Fernández, Laura Olalde, Laureano Solis, Leonor
Soto, Lorena Campos, Mar Canet, Marcos García, Max Kazemzadeh, Mónica
Cachafeiro, Mónica Sorribes, Nerea García Garmendia, Nova Jiang , Nuria
Quintana Villar, Oswald Aspilla Pérez, Pablo Ripollés, Paola Guimerans,
Patricia Larrondo, Paula Pin, Paula Villegas, Philippe Chatelain, Pix,
Quique Tomás, Raúl González, Rocío Lara, Sara Velázquez García, Simone
Jones, Sofy Yuditskaya, Sonia Díez Thale, Sytse Wieringa, Tais Biels Rey,
Tio Patinhas, Valeria Marraco, Víctor Mazón, Walter Langelaar, Wendy Ann
Mansilla, Yolanda Spínola.

Medialab Prado¹s Main site: http://medialab-prado.es/
Interactivos? main website: http://www.interactivos.org/

List of projects with proper descriptions:
http://medialab-prado.es/article/interactivos08_-_juegos_de_la
_vision_lista_de_comunicaciones_y_proyectos_seleccionados
Medialab Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/medialab-prado/
Medialab Wiki: http://wiki.medialab-prado.es/index.php/Main_Page

Other lines of work, year round:
Visualizar: http://medialab-prado.es/visualizar
Inclusiva: http://medialab-prado.es/inclusiva-net
Commons Lab: http://medialab-prado.es/laboratorio_del_procomun
AVLAB: http://medialab-prado.es/avlab2