Rocio Barcia
The exquisite box
Is it possible to create a reproducible and tangible digital narrative, without losing the power of the live and ephemeral body?
The exquisite box is an open system that creates a reproducible digital narrative fed by the performance of the user in real time.
http://rociobarcia.com/exquisiteBox/index.html
Last year working with physical computing and interactivity, most of my projects, explored the relationship between virtual and physical space. For my thesis, I will explore the boundary between the live body of the user as a performer and its digital representation in a narrative context. The way I will develop this idea is through an installation in which the user will perform a very proscribed framework and his actions will be automatically digitalized to form part of a narrative of which he is unaware. My objective is to find a middle point between the reproducible actions (those that can be photographed or shot- that is, the representation of the body) and the ones that are live and unique and which create an interdependent non-linear live narrative installation.
The audience for my work is people of all ages with and interest in putting themselves in a new situation where they can perform.
The installation will consist of two parts located in the same space. One part is for the user to perform a specific circumstance, and the other one is for the display of the recorded performances.
Part 1: performance
A square white wooden box (measuring 115 x 96 x 105cm) is the space for the user to perform. A camera will record video and a microphone audio uploading it into Max/MSP Jitter. Two lights (next to the camera) illuminate the box.
The Flow:
. Empty box
. Two lights are off
. A lighted white push button blinks inside of the box
. A voice on an audio speaker inside of the box invites people in by saying ‘come in, come in’
. A user goes in the in the box and presses the blinking button
. The blinking button turns off and the two lights turn on
. A voice from the audio speaker gives instructions
. (Max/MSP starts recording audio and video)
. The user performs guided by the instructions
The instructions are prerecorded audio files. By a computer random number generator, one of three audio files will play. The duration is specific (2 minutes approximately.)
. The user exits the box
. The box resets
. (Max/MSP stops recording)
Part 2: display
The display is a separate part of the work located in the same space. A wooden vertical frame will be the surface for projection. Each recorded scene has a specific spot within a context, creating a meaningful narrative. The recorded images will be displayed in different parts of the surface. All scenes will happen simultaneously but in order to have an order and a clearer narrative, the audio will be in sequence. If someone is on a box that is moving and the person inside is screaming, we will listen to the sound coming out from that spot. Then we will listen to the sound coming out of the box on top of it reacting to that scream. The videos will have black and white grainy filmic quality so that viewers will perceive them as something that occurred in the past, as if in realm of memory.
Simple black and white graphics will be on the background giving the general context (#3).
Context #1: box
Context #2: relationships between boxes in the display
Context #3: relationship between all the boxes and the background
The audience for my work is people of all ages with and interest in putting themselves in a new situation where they can perform.
The installation will consist of two parts located in the same space. One part is for the user to perform a specific circumstance, and the other one is for the display of the recorded performances.
Part 1: performance
A square white wooden box (measuring 115 x 96 x 105cm) is the space for the user to perform. A camera will record video and a microphone audio uploading it into Max/MSP Jitter. Two lights (next to the camera) illuminate the box.
The Flow:
. Empty box
. Two lights are off
. A lighted white push button blinks inside of the box
. A voice on an audio speaker inside of the box invites people in by saying ‘come in, come in’
. A user goes in the in the box and presses the blinking button
. The blinking button turns off and the two lights turn on
. A voice from the audio speaker gives instructions
. (Max/MSP starts recording audio and video)
. The user performs guided by the instructions
The instructions are prerecorded audio files. By a computer random number generator, one of three audio files will play. The duration is specific (2 minutes approximately.)
. The user exits the box
. The box resets
. (Max/MSP stops recording)
Part 2: display
The display is a separate part of the work located in the same space. A wooden vertical frame will be the surface for projection. Each recorded scene has a specific spot within a context, creating a meaningful narrative. The recorded images will be displayed in different parts of the surface. All scenes will happen simultaneously but in order to have an order and a clearer narrative, the audio will be in sequence. If someone is on a box that is moving and the person inside is screaming, we will listen to the sound coming out from that spot. Then we will listen to the sound coming out of the box on top of it reacting to that scream. The videos will have black and white grainy filmic quality so that viewers will perceive them as something that occurred in the past, as if in realm of memory.
Simple black and white graphics will be on the background giving the general context (#3).
Context #1: box
Context #2: relationships between boxes in the display
Context #3: relationship between all the boxes and the background