May 10 & 11 5pm-9pm
Spring Show 2005
721 Broadway
at Waverly Place
4th Floor
South Elevators
New York, NY 10003
For additional
information email
itp.inquiries@nyu.edu
or call 212.998.1880
| See Through Wall | ||
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| Author(s): | Gabriel Winer Dana Karwas |
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| Instructor: | Barnwell, Michael | |
| Class: | The Mechanics Of Aesthetic Expression | |
| URL: | http://www.gabrielwiner.com/seethroughwall | |
| Keywords: | interactive, video, see, through, see-through, wall, flatscreen, webcam, sound, installation | |
| An interactive video installation in which contextualized projections allow viewers to see and hear through an existing wall, into either real or fictional representations of the space on the other side. | ||
| The See Through Wall is a portal between reality and fiction. Real space is reconstructed by playing with the viewers\' understanding of video and audio as representational methods. In See Through Wall II, a video camera and microphone on one side of the wall send media to a flatscreen and speakers on the other side of the wall. The screen presents a proportionate virtual window into the space on the other side of the wall. Since it is a digital window, a ruse, it is possible to manipulate what the audience sees through the wall. In this case, the live feed is combined with pre-recorded scenes in the same location. Real people are visible in the frame, but at the same time, fictional people walk amongst them. | ||
| Personal Statement: | See Through Wall is a live, localized television performance system, where social actors and voyeuristic audiences operate in the same real space. Much like other forms of media, however, the representation is constructed, narrativized, or even dishonest. The manipulation makes the experience entertaining, yet it also raises many questions, in a hands-on way, about our contemporary sense of reality.
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| Background: | The See Through Wall began as an experiment in our ICM class during the first semester of ITP. Over the last two years, the project has evolved gradually, and continues to develop. A year ago we presented the \"See Through Wall\" at the Chelsea Art Museum, and this year we will present a new version of the piece at the IMC Expo in Chelsea, with a sound element and more advanced programming.
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| Audience: | The See Through Wall is designed for all audiences. The viewers make the content, so the content is up to the community. In previous exhibitions of the piece, children and adults both found their own ways of exploring and having fun with the piece. | |
| User Scenario: | Audience members can either watch and listen to the See Through Wall from the screen-side of the wall, or they can \"perform\" on the camera-side of the wall. If they are on the performing side, they will most likely try to entertain the viewers on the other side, as one does in front of any video camera. If they are on the screen side, they will have a surprising experience. They may approach the project thinking that they are seeing fiction, and discover that they are watching the reality of the events through the wall. On the other hand, they may approach it thinking that they are watching a real scene of two people talking on the other side of the wall, but then walk around the wall and discover that there is no one there. | |
| Technical System Description: | The system is comprised of a camera, microphone, and \"record\" button on one side of the wall, which are fed into a desktop computer. The computer then processes the information in Max/MSP Jitter and interchanges the live feeds with pre-recorded feeds, which are sent to the screen and speakers on the other side of the wall. The button sends a record signal to Max, which tells the camera to record a scene for future use as a pre-recorded \"fiction.\"
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