Projectinfo:

Keywords:
Interactive Installation, Art in Public Space

Date:
2004-2008

Exhibited At:

Synthetic Times, National Art Museum of China, Beijing (June 10th - July 3rd, 2008). www.mediartchina.org

Hidden Depths, T Bar, London (September 26th, 2007). www.hiddendepths.tv

Beamlab Live, Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam (May 30th, 2007). www.beamlab.nl

Cinekid Festival, De Balie, Amsterdam (October 22 - 29, 2006). www.cinekid.nl

Opening Pakhuis de Zwijger, Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam (September 26th, 2006). www.dezwijger.nl

Clockwork @ Emerce Eday, Van Nelle Ontwerpfabriek, Rotterdam (September 14th, 2006). www.emerceeday.nl

STRP Festival, Strijp-S, Eindhoven (March 24 - 26, 2006). www.strp.nl

Digifest/ New Voices, Ontario Science Centre, Canada (May 12 - 15, 2005). digifest 2005

Culturele Zondag, Stad onder Spanning, Utrecht (April 10th 2005). www.culturelezondagen.nl 

EMMA Exposition, Utrecht School of Art & Technology, Hilversum (September 16th 2004).  

Video:

Watch this short video registration explaining more about the TouchMe installation (this video shows the small-scale 1.0 version of TouchMe):

Quicktime Movie (5,7MB)
Windows Media (7,6MB)

TouchMe 2.0 installation at STRP Festival 2006:

Quicktime Movie (5,1MB)
Windows Media (4,8MB)

TouchMe @ Synthetic Times 2008 (National Art Museum of China, Beijing)

Watch the video of TouchMe @ Synthetic Times on Vimeo!

Quick Project Listing:

Click on one of the projects from the list below to learn more about some of our other work.

- Swarm
- Wixel Cloud
- Wixel Play
- Wixels
- TouchMe
- Robotract
- Demor: location-based 3d audiogame
- Jalaani
- MoCap Performance

TouchMe

TouchMe is an interactive installation that allows its users to create and contribute a personal image to the otherwise impersonal public space. Images that are created by interacting with a plate of frosted glass, remain a part of the piece and are displayed when no interactions occur for a given time.



Members of the public can interact with this piece by simply pressing a part of their body or objects against a frosted glass surface, leaving a kind of imprint for them and others to see. The interaction itself is entertaining, and an extra dimension is added as the results are kept as a permanent part of the installation.

TouchMe is intended for one of those typical modern public spaces that seem predominantly designed to withstand large flows of people without any impact. It is as if the users of these spaces are viewed only as pawns, which are to be efficiently routed through this domain on their way from point A to point B. All traces of these visitors will be erased when the next scheduled cleaning crew has removed the footprints from the granite wear-free floor.

This aspiration of efficiency contrasts with the need of the public to physically interact with- and leave marks in their environment. A house isn't a home until it is decorated with some pictures or other personal mementos. In the public arena this desire is expressed in different ways; be it by piling stones on top of each other, cutting names in trees or more contemporary, spraying graffiti and stickering in the urban setting. In addition to their expressive and communicative function as media, these marks seem to build a bond between the creator and place.  

Consider the complex set of emotions that is felt when encountering one's own name on a tree where it was cut in the bark years ago. These emotions can range between feelings of belonging, ownership and nostalgia. On these occasions we are not merely faceless visitors in an ever-changing landscape, here we get a chance to take a moment to appreciate who and where we are.  It seems these moments of recognition help us stretch our metaphorical roots into our world. It is this enhancement of the relation between the public and their public spaces that forms the central premise for TouchMe.

TouchMe Interactive Installation @ HKU - EMMA (European Media Master of Arts) Exposition, September 16th, 2004

TouchMe Interactive Installation - background system setup (not directly seen by the viewer/ user)

TouchMe Interactive Installation @ HKU - EMMA (European Media Master of Arts) Exposition, September 16th, 2004