Underwater Camoflash

Underwater Camoflash is an interactive art wall designed for the people to bring in colors and changes atmosphere of the space. The installation doesn't exist until the viewer appears. The installation will play different color theme video according to the viewer's clothing colors. And layer the color video on top of the live image. While the viewer thinks they are in control of the space's color and atmosphere, they are actually become part of the space due to the camoflash effect inside the piece and the actual space.

I've been working on a lot of two-dimensional graphic works after getting my undergraduate degree in Communication Design. After spending some years in the so-called traditional media. I spent a year in magazine editorial design and started to feel I’m not challenging myself enough. I begin to admire the 'new' things, tried to see where is my next step was. Making arts with new media is so much more interesting than just making static print work. There are many more possibilities of using technology as a creative tool.

During the time while I’m in ITP, I focused on animation and video. Not only explored video as a new media for my ideas but also look into a lot of programming languages and mixing other media with it. After learning some basics of new technology and knowing what are the possibilities of interactive art. I wanted to know more about the interactive part of existing installations and became very interested in them. Especially when interactive installations integrated in architectural interior spaces, they usually create interesting and pleasant spaces for people to enjoy. I think it’s important to create spaces for people to enjoy, not to admire. Life is too short for for minimalism, not only art is essential for interior design, I also think color plays a very important role as well. Not to mention that there are many studies show color affect our moods and emotions, they each have meaning as well. Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. It’s also a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increase respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. It produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It shows human metabolism and produces a claming effect. And all other colors have different effect and meaning. I believe there’s a bit of the child in all of us, everyone love colors. And that’s how I think of using colors for this thesis project in the beginning. And because of my interest in interactive installation, I decided to do this project to combine the two. And make this installation able to work and install in any spaces where doesn’t hurt to add a little more fun and life into it.

For more than hundreds years painting has been a part of culture and has helped shape historical periods. But over recent years many critics have been claiming that painting has lost its value, due to the introduction and development of new technologies has put an end to the authenticity of painting. Their opinion is that not only has painting been threatened by digital art but it has collapsed under the ample amount of digital work. Even successful contemporary painters such as Jenny Saville have begun to question the practice saying, "It will never be in the forefront of art again" and "Some people today dismiss your work solely on the basis that it is painting. It's difficult to retain your confidence surrounded by so many doubters and negative pressures". Although I cannot hundred percent agree that painting has lost its value, because no matter how many artists trying
to produce new media art pieces, painting still dominant most museums and galleries spaces and has a huge group of supporters. But in this fast pace developed world, new media art definitely become more important and common accepted.

Interactive installation is a branch off the installation arts category. Usually, an interactive installation will often involve the audience acting on it or the piece responding to the user’s activity. There are several kinds of interactive installations produced, these include web-based installations, gallery based installations, digital based installations, electronic based installations, etc. According to my research, interactive installations are mostly seen from the 1990s, when artists are more interested in the participation of the audiences where the meaning of the installation is generated. With the improvement of technology over the years, artists are more able to explore out of the boundaries that were never be able to explore by artists in the past. The media used are more experimental and bold; they are also usually cross media and may involve sensors, which plays on the reaction to the audiences’ movement when looking at the installations. There are many multimedia artists and groups developing many interesting interaction for installation arts. Sometimes they are able to create interactions that the result can seem magical. Some of them include Camille Utterback, Romy Achituv, United Visual Artists, Karl Sims, Lisa Nigro. The medium they used is usually video, film, sound and sculpture. Karl Sims did a couple visually beautiful installations, which showed in galleries in Paris, Linz and Los Angeles, etc. One of his installations called Interactive Video Kaleidoscope is using color detection also. It’s a human sized real kaleidoscope creates colorized feedback patterns from faces. It had been exhibited at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the SIGGRAPH 1988 Art Show in Atlanta. Some of the artists build installation physically instead of using technology. Lisa Nigro’s installation is huge in scale. Dahub-Ahes the Mermaid will stand 25 feet tall in the middle of a desert floor, the impact for the interaction will be huge. Viewers can access her interior and climb into and on top of her, the entrance at the front of her yoni will invite viewers to interact with her. Her scales are cut from colorful 55-gallon steel drums. Scrap metal, perforated steel, and other found objects also add depth and mystery to her overall design.
Art installations should not only be able to viewed in galleries and museum. If we carefully look around us, it’s not hard to notice there are many new media art and installations integrated in architecture and public spaces. Following images show some examples of interactive installation in public spaces, Phosphor Field, Art Wall, Amnesty Exhibition, Nobel Peace Center are some great examples of how designer integrated new technology and media into life. They use nature, physical interaction as an input for the interaction data, so the outcomes are not only beautiful to look at, but includes a life quality into them. Using technology to make our living easier and our life prettier has always been our goal and it’s the most important reason of why we keep developing technology in the first place.
Another major inspiration is film. Hero by Zhang Yimou, the story is based on events in China during the 3rd century BC. Their scenes are fill with amazing color images. The characters clothing matches the landscape or room interior in the picture. I think their used of colors in the picture is so well planned. They are just simply pleasing to look at. Another film changes clothing color while scene changes is The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover. This is a conceptual film and not a representation of any sort of life you might recognize or take an interest in. The color design in the picture was very well planned also. The wife's dress, for instance, changes color to match the décor of the room, so that it's a blue dress when she's outdoors and then a red dress in the dining room and then a white dress inside the loo.

When the viewer come in front of the installation, the camera will detect the majority color of the live image and play different color theme video according to the result. and the viewer is also able to see themselves layering on top of the color video.

Max/Msp

The installation comes together at last. I finished the patch for Max/Msp just in time for the presentation. After some user testing and some opinions taken, I add more features to the program. Since this is going to be an environmental piece, I’ll want to make all the color changes as slow as possible, so the audience will see the effect but yet feel comfortable in it. I had a major difficulty with the programming writing software. Since I have a graphic design background and I'm definitely not a programming person. Because of this project, I started to learn Max/Msp, it was very difficult for a person that don’t have much programming sense and logical thinking technique to pick up a new programming language in such a short time. But throughout this project, I actually begin to like programming. When you find the right way to solve problems, it could be very efficient. Patient is the key for programming, when problems occur, just keep trying until there is a solution. So where do I see this going in the future? I can see this installation not only show in galleries and museums, but integrated in architectural interior as well. For instance, hotel lobbies, bars, restaurants, commercial interiors or even office. The installation does not have to be on one wall, it could be install on all sides of the room. With the color screens wrap around audience, it will maximize the experience of camoflash effect.