March 31, 2005

inspiring multiuser exhibits

the other day i enjoyed a long phone conversation with dan albritton (from tokyo) about the new homepage i'll be launching at fitc and his own multiuser work (which i convinced him to demo during my session...cool!). dan pointed out a few beautiful apps that are definitely worth setting aside an evening to explore...

  • j-wave singing tower project
    >> videos of the exibit

    produced by dentsu, this exhibit used lights in the windows of a skyskraper in roppongi hills (tokyo) to display the frequency information for sound coming from a radio station broadcast. it displayed the information in real-time, like a giant graphic equalizer. creative directors: takuya isojima, masayoshi kubo.

  • blinkenlights
    >> website
    >> video documentary

    in a similar vein, blikenlights is another building-as-screen exhibit that displays animations and love letters sent in by viewers (via email and cell-phone) on the side of a building. blinkenlights also lets passers-by play a gigantic game of pong on the building, again via cell phone. killer. be sure to watch the documenatary.

  • listening post
    >> videos of the exhibit

    by mark hansen and ben rubin, "Listening post is an art installation that culls text fragments in real time from thousands of unrestricted Internet chat rooms, bulletin boards and other public forums. The texts are read (or sung) by a voice synthesizer, and simultaneously displayed across a suspended grid of more than two hundred small electronic screens.

    Listening Post cycles through a series of six movements, each a different arrangement of visual, aural, and musical elements, each with it's own data processing logic."

    this thing is massively moving. if it comes to your city, don't ask questions. just go see it.


incidentally, the several-hour call with dan was free because he uses vonage. if you're not into getting a whole box but still want free internet phone calls, try skype.

Posted by moock at 03:48 PM