Author: yiliuh@andrew.cmu.edu

Project Blinkenlights was a light installation in the Haus des Lehreres building at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin that transformed the building front into a giant low-resolution monochrome computer screen. The installation was created by the German Chaos Computer Club and went online on September 11, 2001.

The project fits in Colangelo’s framework in the following ways:

1. The project is very large scale, and transforms online massive media into public facing messages in the physical world.
2. The project gives control of a public space to the mass public instead of any particular authority. People are able to interact with the system in many ways through mobile device. Some novel uses of the screen are for people to call a number, play Pong or send animations for display.
3. The messages displayed on the building facade are the continuous representations of the project’s ability to connect space, technology and people. The mass public are able to engage with each other through either direct interaction or emotional resonance from distance.

 

Project 1: CLOUD

This is an interactive installation sculpted from 6,000 everyday light bulbs by Canadian artists Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett. The work allows any person to stand underneath the sculpture and control the light by pulling the strings (hundreds of them). As people come in and out to become part of an impromptu team that animates the cloud, they experience various conditions that would trigger other feelings, behaviors and interactions.

I like how this project really blurs the social boundary by encouraging spontaneous participation and collaboration. The use of mass-produced objects as a reference to the materialized city is also well embedded in the project. All exhibited interactions at the site can be viewed as statements about social relations, which I think is a smart approach.

Project Link

Project 2: Transcending Boundaries

In this installation, water is represented by a continuum of numerous water particles. When a person stands on the waterfall they obstruct the flow of water like a rock, and the flow of water changes. The flow of water continues to transform due to the interaction of people. Previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur.

This project illustrates the transient property of time and space in an aesthetically appealing way. This piece is more about personal reflection than public socialization. The visuals, the sound and the way of interaction for this work are coherently combined to give the audience a very poetic experience.

Project Link