Ash here from UVA… thanks for the review. To answer your question about the video - all the sound is from the camera, with no overdubbing.

:-)
ash

On the other hand, I do think that the playful element can have that effect/affect. You can draw people’s attention to the things they normally ignore in the everyday, whether that be their state of mind/body, their relationships with each other or other ‘things’ in the world. I think that’s much more worthwhile and interesting than Big Fine Art usually bothers with.

I attended a lecture of Erkki Huhtamo this week and he introduced a history of what he calls early proto-interactive devices. These devices were mainly developed for entertainment; peep shows, mutoscopes and on to pinball machines. At the dinner afterward I spoke to him about these and how much they the entertainment aspect of interactivity is still prevalent with technological gimmicks and novelty. It is not hard to map such devices out on Jim Campbell’s ‘Formula for Computer Art‘.

It is interesting to look at the history of such systems to get an idea about the general direction interactivity is taking. In a sense interactivity got hijacked along the way to act as a control mechanism for databases and ‘old world media’. I almost certainly agree with Usman Hague in thinking it can be so much more - Campbell’s diagram needs a lot more blank boxes and question marks.

I hope to see the piece in London this week, so I’ll maybe report back. But yes, perhaps it is simply what it says it is: a sculpture of light and sound.

The only real question I have with the video is whether the soundtrack is over-dubbed or it is from the work itself.

Maybe Joel or one of the other UVA guys can pitch in here with some answers?

However I find my self wondering exactly what is happening on an interactive level. It seems apparent from watching the video (unfortunately I have not been able to see it) that it does seem to mesmerise people and results in a dumbing down of the interaction. What I look for almost exclusively in sucessful interactive works is the ability to draw out interesting interaction from the participants - Lozano-Hemmer’s ‘Body Movies’ being the prime example.

Volume, is decribed as a ’sculpture of light and sound’, but am I missing something or is there something beyond it being just simply that? Perhaps there is some non-linear stuff going on akin to Ken Rinaldo’s ‘Autopoiesis‘ or Usman Haque’s ‘Evolving Sonic Environment‘?