Eojin Chae

When You Tame Me

"When You Tame Me" is a tamable interactive kinetic installation, which acts like a hedgehog.

http://www.eozinche.com/?portfolio=when-you-tame-me

Classes
Aesthetics of Automation


"When You Tame Me" consists of a thin membrane as a skin and a sphere-shaped inflatable object as a core. The maximum diameter of this changeable sphere-shaped installation hanging from the ceiling is 22-inches. And the required size of space (to detect people's motion by a camera) is 60 x 60 inches (as a minimum). This ball-shaped installation will be hanged from the ceiling in the center of assigned space.
When you get close to this kinetic installation, it starts to raise its quills like a scared hedgehog. An inflatable object below its skin reacts to your motion detected by a camera and generates this change. When it first meet you, it may feel threatened like a living animal which see a human for the first time but if you stay close to it repeating the similar gesture, over time, the installation becomes familiar (or, tamed) by your movements. In a sense, a person interacting with it becomes tamed too. They tame each other.

The scale of this kinetic installation is quite important. The person interacting with the large object may have a sense of intimidation as it makes sudden movements. However, in a short period of time the participant learns that even large unruly creatures can be tamed.

Negotiating relationships is an intricate process that can take some time. This is true of human-to-human interactions as well as this encounter.