At the grand Platform4 Awards show the prizes and honor went to two magnificent winning projects. The People's Choice-award, as selected via SMS-vote among the audience, went to the TS Collective for the 'Wolfram'-installation - and the Platform4 Award plus 10,000 Danish Kroner went to Edit Vizer's 'InsideOut Vol. II', as chosen by the official award jury. Big congrats to these talented creators! And a big thanks to all the participating projects.
PLATFORM4 AWARD WINNER 2011: INSIDE OUT VOL. II by EDIT VIZER
InsideOut vol. II is a re-designed presentation of the previously realized real-time bio feedback performance InsideOut, which was created back in 2009. This new work is more an experimental user experience design – though still includes performative elements, as it demands active participation of the users. InsideOut vol. II focuses on human data transmissions, which is understood as the activity that takes place in the body, including the heartbeat. In this way waves are created, which under normal circumstances are not to be seen – only with some electronic measurement instruments (e.g. medical equipment). These data are processed into visual and acoustic landscapes.
The user is introduced to a platform that is able to make her/him sense the internal transmissions with other senses than usual, since the transmissions expressed audiovisually and fill the room with a certain intimacy. Thus it is illustrated how one's inner conditions are affected and disturbed by the outside-inside and what it does to our perception of our surroundings, as well as our own individual body- and selfconsciousness.
Simultaneously some new ways of sensing arises at the user – something close to the very intimate and hopefully surprising. Getting to know the signals of our own body and present mental state is crucial e.g. according to various aspects of social interaction. InsideOut vol. II takes a risk and calls for a conversation with yourself – where simply being and sensing can be a totally new experience.
Applied technology and description of installation:
The user is exposed to an intimate bed-room OR similar everyday situation where by means of an open source pulse sensor and various DIY e-textile sensors (e.g. pressure, bend sensors) invisible data is caught and processed (in the softwares Arduino and MaxMSP). In this situation the user is an active participant and the installation is best suitable for one person at a time.
The work is best experienced by having both speakers (for environmental influence) and headphones (individual experience) playing, though also can be displayed with only one of the mentioned.
Download abstract.
The jury's statement about the winner:
"Sometimes you meet a project that just has something inexplicable about it. Something that excites curiosity, and gives a desire to feel and explore. The feeling that it opens up. InsideOut Vol. II has it - that inexplicable thing. The twitch. InsideOut Vol. II possesses a good calm as well as many layers to explore, and one senses that a great effort has been put into the expression."
Footage of the original piece, InsideOut, as performed in Platform4 in September 2009:
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD WINNER 2011: WOLFRAM by TS COLLECTIVE (Alex Birklykke, Yngve Stensaker, Martin Lynge, Urs Bastrck)
TS Collective's interactive art/tech installation Wolfram was an audience's favorite right from the beginning. 70 motion sensors with light bulps mounted in a hanging ceiling, so that the viewer can activate the lights simply by walking under them.
Read more about TS Collective on their official site.
