Post Edit Home Help

Key Pages

Home |
News |
Project Outline |
User's Guide |
- |
Research Groups |
Presence |
Documentation |
ABC of Presence |
CAVE |
Presence Project Bibliography |
Life to the second power |
- |
Extended Documentations |
Blast Theory |
The Builders Association |
Lynn Hershman Leeson |
Gary Hill |
Tony Oursler |
Ken Goldberg |
Paul Sermon |
- |
Workshop Documentation |
Tim Etchells |
Julian Maynard Smith |
Bella Merlin |
Vayu Naidu |
Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes |
Fiona Templeton |
Phillip Zarrilli |
- |
Presence Forum |
- |
Links and Resources |
- |
Contributors to the Collaboratory |
- |
References |
- |
Acknowledgements |
-

Changes [Jun 23, 2009]

Home
CAVE EXERCISE 1
The Builders Associ...
The Builders Associ...
John Cleater | Pres...
Presence
John Cleater
   More Changes...
Changes [Jun 23, 2009]: Home, CAVE EXERCISE 1, The Builders Associ..., The Builders Associ..., ... MORE

Find Pages

4 June 2006

'Two remote identical black wooden boxes are connected via the Internet using I Sight cameras and an I Chat video interface.

Visitors glimpse through a small peephole into the box. An invisible camera inside on the opposite wall captures their eyes and transfers it to the other box, where it is displayed underneath the camera on a small round-shaped projection screen and vice versa. Both participants exchange their views in real-time, looking into each other’s eyes.

Uploaded Image

This surveillance interface inside the box is embedded into a stage like miniature set of an earth globe below and amidst a starry sky with little colourful planets dotted around that seem to float in the space. It recalls a satellite perspective, which is underlined by the surveillance interface above; but the view onto this small universe glowing in the dark, reminiscent of toys even, implicates ironic commentaries in itself – resulting in thoughts about who controls and who observes whom in a more globally networked sense.'


21 June 2006

Hi Gabriella,

Finally I have found a time slot to get back with some more info - it's a very short time span for the project altogether -

I'm in Russia since the 13th now and have set up the work. First as a reduced demo version in Moscow in the Goethe Institute - in relation to the description you have this meant one box in which viewers were able to look at themselves, or in other words their very own eye for a start.

This worked quite nicely I must say - although the main part of the work takes place here in the Urals right now, where I arrived on Saturday and I was immediately escorted to the University in Ekaterinburg in the South Urals to set up the first location. This all went well, accompanied by a lecture to art history students in the evening, for which my all over research into networked performative interfaces was something rather unusual. Although media art is known in Russia, there is still a gap between such a remote region and Moscow for example of course and art education is traditional, art is more understood as painting and sculpture, which also counts for the local museums.

Uploaded Image

Therefore the actual opening yesterday of the project at the University in Cheljabinsk, where I am since Monday now, was quite an event, that was reported in four TV programmes in the evening even, in that case a media response you would only dream about in the UK...

Uploaded Image

Accordingly the opening was surrounded by a live video conference, with a virtual hand shakes - or eye to eye - between the Vice Chancellors of the participating faculties, something i had to take with al little irony... even though I am familiar with how things are arranged here from former stays and studies in Russia. However the "artistka' (in one TV report i was also the "futuristka" from the UK ;-)) is considered to be a very special guest and there is great hospitability.

Uploaded Image

It does help that I speak Russian from former language studies back in Germany and Moscow at the time - which is one of the reasons I am here, as the Goethe-Institut and the local gallery here invited me also for those reasons - further dating back to a lecture travel through Russia in 2002.

Uploaded Image

Therefore it is a bit more by this invitation they I am setting up this project right here, rather than choosing Russia as a place for the network as such. But for myself obviously it gives this project a certain weight and difference, as it takes places far away from the usual media art circuit.

Uploaded Image

But that also meant that there were a few teething problems in terms of technology - although I use a simple chat interface, the fact that I have cameras in a sealed box requires special lighting conditions for instance, which need adjustments by millimeters in that sense. Still once it was set up viewers were very surprised about being in contact remotely and the interface works well in that respect.

I have attached some imagery with the following mails, there is a short TV report at http://chelyabinsk.rfn.ru/rnews.html?id=45675# -

I'm giving another lecture here tonight and then I'm on my way back to Moscow on Friday and to the UK on Monday

all he best

Andrea

References - Print
Page last modified by gabriella giannachi Thu Jul 13/2006 02:25
Site Home > The Presence Project > Eye 2 Eye – Networked Installa...