Hey thanks for re-posting the drumkit piece on our page. It is among my favorite works that you have informed me about since I began following your weblog. I haven't experienced it in person yet I am completely attached to it. Life altering art.
Following are a few ideas that I'm working through [ideas induced during decaffeine high]...
I propose that we play more with testsite as a central theme in our installation. And considering that you and I share a fascination with sci-fi (film and literature), we might introduce a fictional science base that our audience activates. I'll depart now into loose ideas.
Backyard: hang a screen or painted panel of plywood off the deck toward the grass slope. (fyi: the deck is raised above ground a bit). Lay out several blankets on the grass. The screen or panel could be illuminated with an animation of a faux scrambled/pixelated signal that ultimately reveals no significant message - more to the point it is repetitive and brainwashing, somewhat cultish. I bought $20 veejay shareware that I'm going to experiment with for building this type of animation. Perhaps you or I could mix some sound for this projection.
Dining Room: we could transform this room into a laboratory station for assembling food rations. We could have available rubber gloves, lab coats, goggles, lo-tech swivel magnifying glasses, clear edible capsules and colorful vegetable powders, such as kale, beet, carrot,... and bowls or containers for the finished capsules. Also a special looking box for iradiating the capsules. It has a button on the side that triggers a laser beam to turn on. It turns off when the button is no longer pressed.
Doorways: I could hang loose mostly transparent fabric or lt. weight plastic curtains (resembling the kind of curtain found as you enter a walk-in cooler, those made with vertical strips). The curtain/s would be projected on with a periodic animation of a blue horizontal scan (as if it has a function to sanitize or read information).
Baggage: could be scanned as people enter the apartment. There could be a slide or video projection on a cardboard video monitor or sloppily directly onto the cardboard scan box that reveals pre-recorded images of things from Laurence's house. A person, perhaps myself or one of my students could perform the scanning station. When a bag is place, a slide is advance. The slide carousel could be set up to have a blank slot in between so that when there is no bag it advances to darkness.
Living Room: This is where the computers are. I haven't gathered any more ideas yet. Thought I'd throw some of my initial ideas your way first. Just keeping in mind, testsite. To me, testsite has a laboratory feel and also references excursion, satellite, surveyed area... lots of other associations.
I thought we could pick a few associations and see what ideas we generate from there. Then we could see how some of the ideas overlap into other areas and find what if anything emerges out of that. Maybe we find our way back to the lounge. For example, the living room could be the lounge of a base or station. I'm also keen on making some impromptu videos while we are installing which can reside on the web or be projected.
All things we do can be brought to an inexpensive production level with some brainstorming once we resolve more our mutual interests in the collaboration. We won't need to rent a computer for me to use. Do you think there should be two stations, one for you to work on even while we are there and one for audience? Then there would be the potential for live exchange (wouldn't have to be a constant - you could break away and come back any time).
I'm already thinking: white leisure suit (at least for me). Not a polyester '70s one, but more like the one-piece coveralls that old men wear. Especially old men scientists.
Yes, that all sounds pretty fun. It would make sense, then, for me to be gathering/writing material with a scifi theme. I'm doing some music for Sally's robot landscape project, so I'm already thinking about how to integrate music with video.
I think having two computers set up would be good--my "lab work" would be sitting at the computer, that could easily be in the public space.
How much structure do we need, in terms of an ongoing performance? Would it be better to be playing a role, when people are in the room? Doing something purposeful? The cult idea is good, the scanner/clean room trappings, too.
i'm eager to keep this dialogue going but i have to wait until friday. tomorrow i have to teach and do an artist talk, followed by attending "following" a video caravan that my students organized. i'll take some photos of the caravan to post.
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Following are a few ideas that I'm working through [ideas induced during decaffeine high]...
I propose that we play more with testsite as a central theme in our installation. And considering that you and I share a fascination with sci-fi (film and literature), we might introduce a fictional science base that our audience activates. I'll depart now into loose ideas.
Backyard: hang a screen or painted panel of plywood off the deck toward the grass slope. (fyi: the deck is raised above ground a bit). Lay out several blankets on the grass. The screen or panel could be illuminated with an animation of a faux scrambled/pixelated signal that ultimately reveals no significant message - more to the point it is repetitive and brainwashing, somewhat cultish. I bought $20 veejay shareware that I'm going to experiment with for building this type of animation. Perhaps you or I could mix some sound for this projection.
Dining Room: we could transform this room into a laboratory station for assembling food rations. We could have available rubber gloves, lab coats, goggles, lo-tech swivel magnifying glasses, clear edible capsules and colorful vegetable powders, such as kale, beet, carrot,... and bowls or containers for the finished capsules. Also a special looking box for iradiating the capsules. It has a button on the side that triggers a laser beam to turn on. It turns off when the button is no longer pressed.
Doorways: I could hang loose mostly transparent fabric or lt. weight plastic curtains (resembling the kind of curtain found as you enter a walk-in cooler, those made with vertical strips). The curtain/s would be projected on with a periodic animation of a blue horizontal scan (as if it has a function to sanitize or read information).
Baggage: could be scanned as people enter the apartment. There could be a slide or video projection on a cardboard video monitor or sloppily directly onto the cardboard scan box that reveals pre-recorded images of things from Laurence's house. A person, perhaps myself or one of my students could perform the scanning station. When a bag is place, a slide is advance. The slide carousel could be set up to have a blank slot in between so that when there is no bag it advances to darkness.
Living Room: This is where the computers are. I haven't gathered any more ideas yet. Thought I'd throw some of my initial ideas your way first. Just keeping in mind, testsite. To me, testsite has a laboratory feel and also references excursion, satellite, surveyed area... lots of other associations.
I thought we could pick a few associations and see what ideas we generate from there. Then we could see how some of the ideas overlap into other areas and find what if anything emerges out of that. Maybe we find our way back to the lounge. For example, the living room could be the lounge of a base or station. I'm also keen on making some impromptu videos while we are installing which can reside on the web or be projected.
All things we do can be brought to an inexpensive production level with some brainstorming once we resolve more our mutual interests in the collaboration. We won't need to rent a computer for me to use. Do you think there should be two stations, one for you to work on even while we are there and one for audience? Then there would be the potential for live exchange (wouldn't have to be a constant - you could break away and come back any time).
- Kristin 4-01-2004 6:00 am
I'm already thinking: white leisure suit (at least for me). Not a polyester '70s one, but more like the one-piece coveralls that old men wear. Especially old men scientists.
Yes, that all sounds pretty fun. It would make sense, then, for me to be gathering/writing material with a scifi theme. I'm doing some music for Sally's robot landscape project, so I'm already thinking about how to integrate music with video.
I think having two computers set up would be good--my "lab work" would be sitting at the computer, that could easily be in the public space.
How much structure do we need, in terms of an ongoing performance? Would it be better to be playing a role, when people are in the room? Doing something purposeful? The cult idea is good, the scanner/clean room trappings, too.
- tom moody 4-01-2004 8:05 am
i'm eager to keep this dialogue going but i have to wait until friday. tomorrow i have to teach and do an artist talk, followed by attending "following" a video caravan that my students organized. i'll take some photos of the caravan to post.
- Kristin 4-01-2004 9:15 am