Bags or Pixels? Pushing the notion of a screen

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/16558492[/vimeo]

It is hard to look at this piece without thinking of a digital logic. It was presented at the B-Seite Festival in Mannheim and at the weekly culture show “Kobra” on Swedish Television. This 2.40 x 1.80 m interactive wall-mounted installation titled “One hundred and eight” is made of ordinary garbage bags which are controlled by a microcontroller. The bags are selectively inflated and deflated by two cooling fans. On/Off. One, zero.

Its creator, German artist Nils Völker describes the interaction:

as soon a viewer comes close it instantly reacts by drawing back and tentatively following the movements of the observer. As long as he remains in a certain area in front of the installation it dynamically reacts to the viewers motion. As soon it does no longer detect someone close it reorganizes itself after a while and gently restarts wobbling around

( Nilsvoelker.com, accessed 05/09/2011, http://www.nilsvoelker.com/content/onehundredandeight/index.html)

The notion of screens is pushed by this work; the inflation and deflation of the bags is like pixels turning on and off. Through the detection of proximity, the screen can not only communicate unilaterally but establish a dialogue with the passers-by.

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