In week one, we met each other and clarified our roles and project goals.
SoulRounded is a six-person interdisciplinary ETC project team collaborating with artist Renee Cox, who is an outstanding figure in black female art, art curator Jessica Gaynelle Moss, and world-class contemporary art museum Mattress Factory. We aim to organically integrate the artist’s exhibition in Mattress Factory with modern interactive technology to create an immersive and inclusive art space that inspires the audience to explore the boundaries of the integration of technology and art and raises awareness of black female identity in modern history.
Link to our clients:
We had our first client meeting with excitement and introduced ourselves to everyone we will be working with. After having some basic understandings of the project, we communicated with the artist about what she expects from us, and also discussed the hardware possibilities with representatives from the Mattress Factory. After the first client meeting, we started brainstorming and prepared for the pitch proposals.
In week 2, we presented two proposals to the artist and the curator.
A. Immersive Projection Space
Inspired by teamLab, we pitched an immersive room with interactive artworks projected on the wall.
We will animate the artwork created by Renee and use room-scale projection to create an immersive experience. We also have two solutions to make it interactive.
A1. Animation generation triggered by pose
Using Kinect or other motion capture technologies, we can capture the guest’s pose. If it matches the artwork being projected, an animation will be triggered.
A2. Animation according to motion capture
Again, using motion capture technologies, we capture the poses of some specific body parts of the guest and map the artwork to match the gesture.
Technology needs: projectors with interchangeable large and long lens, motion capture devices such as Kinect.
B. Zoetrope
This idea was inspired by the client meeting in week 1. It is a physical installation made up of a zoetrope turnplate and 3d holograms that shows animation. We have two different ways to deliver this idea.
B1. Zoetrope + Hologram
We will create a zoetrope that is partly physical and partly digital. For this installation, we will have around 30-40 pieces of life-sized 3D Holograms spinning inside a circle build by several opaque physical board to create an animated optical illusion. The animation will show different body parts combined together according to Renee’s art style.
For the 3D hologram, we will build pyramid-like plastic devices that refract 2D material and create a 3D illusion.
B2. Zoetrope + 3D Models
We will build a wedding cake like physical installation with a series of 3D models on each layer to create different animations.
We will need around 20 models for each layer.
For the interaction aspect, the rotation speed of the zoetrope control determined by the amount of “believers”/ “listeners”. Changing the rotational speed of the zoetrope can have different effects on the illusion of animation, that combined with the Renee’s artwork can create an immersive experience.
Technology needs: Arduino to control the rotation speed, camera/sensors to detect the number of audiences.
Feedback from client
The clients were very excited for our work. We discussed the possibility to combine the two ideas together and questions about the budget. We will calculate the cost for each idea before the artist make the decision.
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