APD (8); Audience/Play

THEME

Play/Audience 

CONTEXT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXFFvIo7R3g

I believe we were introduced to this project in APD, and I really liked the idea of an art installation where the nature of the art changed upon approach/observation. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCHthmDTbyU

This is another example of eye tracking in an art installation, in this one the eye tracking WAS the installation as the audience changed the form of the piece by observing it.

METHOD

I wanted to take a break from weird app concepts and go into something more fine art focused this week (without just submitting an illustration as the object), so I started thinking about audience and observation and how it could potentially change an art piece. From this I was initially considering motion sensors as an added dimension to an exhibition, but that felt a little too simple. From there I decided eye tracking, or eye tracking and motion sensors combined, could be an interesting way of bringing audience participation into the gallery experience. 

I always liked those paintings that felt like the eyes were watching you no matter what angle you looked at the image from, and wanted to tweak that idea a little but instead making it so the painting only watched you when you were not watching it. I went back and forth a bit on the content of this hypothetical exhibition would be, but decided that masters-style paintings/portraiture would be the most engaging. Theres a certain disconnect when we look at old portraits that I think adds further depth to the concept of a ‘living’ exhibition when the content is portraiture rather than object/fantasy based.  

RESULTS

I kept starting off my ideas for this week’s objects as straight illustration or animation exercises, which didn’t really feel in the spirit of APD. I did really want to spend a little bit of time doing some fast and loose sketches that weren’t related to other projects for the course, so this was a nice quick diversion from drawing endless chupacabras. Overall I think the concept is solid and achievable, and could be a fun novel gallery experience though the number of people permitted in the space at once would have to be moderated so the eye tracking software could actually work.