Thursday, December 11, 2008

Travis Erol, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 75cm x 70 cm


Elemental, Interactive audio-video installation, 2006




Elemental is an interactive media space where visitors are invited to commune with digital representations of the four elements. Participant's movements are tracked through the room with infrared sensors, feeding data into a computer, which in turn triggers off four different video loops which are all projected onto a single double-sided screen. Each video loop is of a different length, allowing endless interactive possibilities. As the layering of loops builds up as more participants enter the room, the projected imagery becomes more abstract and dynamic, while the soundscape gains depth. The screen can be viewed from two sides: the first displays the imagery as it is projected, while the other side filters the projection through a geometric pattern, focusing awareness on fundamental colours and movement. The computer software for this installation was written using MAX/msp.

Elemental-Tetrahedron Installation, cloth and metal, 10m x 10m x 10m, 2007

The screen from the Elemental installation attached to Blake Schulhauser's Tetrahedron in a collaborative installation at the 2007 Burning Man Festival in Nevada. During the day, the screen provided shelter from and filtered the sun's intense rays into intricate patterns for the occupants of the sculpture, who lay suspended in hammocks. During the night, digital projections were directed onto the sculpture. (note: the blue spots clouding the photograph were a result of inevitable dust contaminating the camera's lense)

Pyrophone, metal sculpture, 150cm x 174 cm x 75 cm 2008


The Pyrophone is an acoustic sound sculpture performance that utilises the theories of thermo-acoustics to produce drone tones. Like a pipe organ, the pyrophone operates by moving air through long tubes. However, instead of blowing air, a high temperature flame is applied to one end of the tube (by a welding torch) and the resultant change in air pressure creates a slightly sinister yet soothingly meditative drone. Metal pipes were cut to specific lengths and attached to a rebar carriage in order to create a twelve-note chromatic C scale. Spectators were invited to take part in the performance, resulting in a fiery co-creative sound sculpture spectacle.