DISCOVERIES:
In the most recent mockup that I “tested” there is a single rock (mama guardian) instead of my previous mock-up with the two rocks (Meoto Iwa homage). It felt that the two were overpowering the soil spirit portals. I will revisit the two as iterations continue.

There were three sample clips presented in the hole portals above, from left to right:

The first I am most happy with as it is playful and revealing. The third video has mini clips with butoh and is not correct as the view is straight on. I will film the next test from above.

Also, in butoh, the human body is a medium, whereas, in the affected video, the video of butoh becomes the medium and loses its purpose. I will need to remove it altogether (and develop it as a separate interactive performance) or use it raw. I still don’t have the final recording, which will be filmed in the water/bay.

I want to further augment “the feeling of rock and soil using technology/nature has usurped technology (the supposed anti-nature) to communicate and reveal itself,” and this also ties to Christina’s question, “is tech always human?”

I removed wires by the holes so there is no visible evidence of the interaction but perhaps can be sensed. The wires took away from the magical layering inside portals and made one think of tech as a medium (below). Also, projections on walls were powerful but took away from holey portals:

 

FEEDBACK IN LAST WEEK’S BREAKOUT (Ruta, Enrique & George)

  • Overall positive
  • Remove walk-through / not sure of of space
  • Audio? sound from rock – pure tones/ human can barely hear/ sub-bass/ frequencies that nonhuman beings perceive
  • Why type of wire? Is it drilled in?
  • Are soils different? 
  • What is the size of the rock? Is it the same as in butoh dance?
  • Posthuman feeling, not knowing what is connected is a mystery and this is ok
  • Moisture can evaporate during the day/ misters
  • Videos feel like portals/ voyeurism/ peephole/ seeing the other side/ plays with a sense of the space

TECH progress:

  • I spoke briefly with YG about the next steps
  • Raspberry Pi should work with metro microcontroller & sensors
  • Smooth the values in p5 by averaging
  • I moved to VSC but having tech issues

ANDREW feedback on mockup:

  • senses the hard rectangle edge of video screen: crop hard angle OR would be great with AR VR 360 video
  • missing telescoping out; try 3D software or after effects; start far and get back
  • Dark space? hidden sources of light for rock or holes/ dimmers for spots/ pull focus and maintain; curb off/ dark
  • Clip 2 not working with the trace of the previous image — receded depth would be better.
  • Clip 3 the controlled body movements lost with animation… also the angle of looking straight on not working (suitable for wall)
  • Test with projector; film the hole and me clearing it and project back
  • Can use Isadora to carve out a circle, customize, reflective light cognitively more natural, not human-centric
  • ITP – can access one or three projectors & grid
  • Depth goes away with a flat screen

NEXT STEPS FOR END OF SEMESTER PRESENTATION:

  • Fix tech issues
  • Iterate on soil effects in p5 (and TD if time permits) with real sensor numbers
  • Test projection into holes as an option
  • Revise mockup with new video content including:
    • an updated butoh test filmed from above
    • a draft version of an audioscape