Description



Steel Ice & Stone is a multi-media interactive installation.
Nine suspended LED panels and sensor-triggered sound create an environment for memory recall.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Slide show

The slide show to the left was done by grouping images into an album in Picasa on a Mac updated with mountain lion. It works on other macs however doesn't seem to on PCs browsing with IE.
Back to work on it.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Face recognition?

A programmer, in thinking about how to configure the sound unit, came up with an idea, to use face recognition software to remember the viewer and triger the sound remotely from a computer in the exhibition space.

Nice! However, where to put the sensor on the piece? The idea of a lens peaking out from the side or the middle of the piece is inappropriate for this installation (although I have a thought on where it could exist on a future piece, already in the works). Had the pieces not been  printed on paper, it would make it a possibility but then take away the massiveness of the piece.

The lens could be outfitted on both sides so the sound would exist only as long as a particular viewer lingered in front of the piece, but that affects how the sound would meld with others during the exhibition, altering the collaborative interactive experience.

Monday, March 25, 2013

The fluid blog

Changing images and text, announcing the changes in various social media venues, developing new images have substantially boosted the readership.
Welcoming comments.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

This week the prototype comes down

And it was very important. First ideas:
• More room is needed; viewers don't have enough room to step back
• That said, viewers like walking right up to the work to view details
• The gauge of the wire to hang the show also becomes important: How much should the pieces move back and forth?
• The height of the images from the floor becomes critical. Too high, it towers over the viewer. Too low, the suspension effect is lost
• Explore designing and manufacturing stands?


Friday, March 22, 2013

What a nail-biter!

It has become a consuming endeavor to round up potential investors--even friends--and drum up the nerve to get them to invest in the work. I've never done it boldly to a person's face, and I can be rather bold!

Anyway, the Kickstater image page, left, links directly to the site!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Gallery Photos

The show's opening the other evening gave me the opportunity to thank those who came. But it didn't really give me the time to observe those walking through the gallery and how they looked at the work. I'll be going that over this week, starting in a little while.

Also important is recording the attendance, since, another challenge of the work is describing it to those who have never experienced it.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Other Electronic Options

Brought to my attention:
Repurposing an iPhone--or its equivalent--to be the sound unit.
In thinking about it:
A little photo I found on the web.
1) The camera lens could be used as the sensor with the base image being a white field and the viewer stepping into its range and breaking the differential
2) The unit already contains a pre-amp and speaker hook-up
3) It can be programmed with an app

Issues:
1) Proprietary issues
2) Powering the unit; many microcontrollers require much less energy
3) Expense. Microcontrollers are in the $ 35 range, smart phones--even used ones--will run about
$ 100.

And, if I'm not running this remotely, I wonder if it's needed.

The original idea for a microcontroller with chip is most interesting since the unit is stand-alone and the chip could be added without additional programming.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Kickstarter Campaign is up

Within a few minutes of it going live, I had two pledges. By this morning I had three backers.
Thanks for your help.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1887749049/steel-ice-and-stone

Grace Gallery was a hit

A brief opening with visits of students, faculty and College administration, I got to observe the traffic of viewers through the installation in actual-size, in real time.
Photos will be posted shortly, but here are some immediate notes:
• the direction viewers walk through the piece is strongly determined; therefore the backs of the works need to be considered
• A suggestion was to put the same image on the back or two make the image transparent like a duratrans. That is exciting however:
       a) If the same image is on the other side, would it be the exact image or a flop (mirror image) of it to allude transparency? What would the other side of a piece of ice or stone look like? It was never shot.
       b) Would a duratrans require options (electricity, wires, etc) that would prove distracting? And, the casing would need a certain depth to avoid light show through.
• Viewers commented on other display methods; that perhaps suspension may not be necessary, The foam stands worked fine; perhaps something made of a clear material might be just as effective.
• Another viewer commented that the piece was truly interactive but from a deeply personal perspective: the viewer is delivered to their own personal environment by the large images and sound without the action of electronics--the ultimate goal of the piece.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Even more text...

Since I was younger I’ve examined chapters in my life. I observed details of the people and places around me and carefully stored them in my mind and in my heart, years later to be reconsidered, perhaps understood, often just demystified. A friend mused that many questions in our lives will go unanswered. True, perhaps, but an understanding of the crux would transform an internal conflict to peaceful acceptance of life’s inevitabilities.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Grace Gallery coming up

Very excited.
Posters are going up, invites going out, postings on the social media.
Have to think about all the detail since new tiled images were printed and trimmed a little while ago.
The nor'easter is scheduled for this week, not next, so I think maybe this time it will show. This rather nice photo came from the web.

Wonderful vid

Saw something amazing today on Vimeo, have a look:

https://vimeo.com/60444631

The sound design is fabulous.