Project Four | Interactive Environments | audio visual environments

Interactive Environments

Due 04.18 — Documentation online by midnight 04.17

This can be either an individual or group project. You might think of working on something to perform on Digitalis (May 2nd).

build a system that allows you to control some aspect in realtime or “live”
found materials, generative materials, traditionally produced materials–all ok
put something descriptive online by “midnight” on the 17th, but we can also do a few demos/performances in class.
there are many different approaches to this:
- interactive installation
- a/v performance
- game
- tool/instrument

Projects…

Gillian

“the fever museum” by gillian lee

The interactive environment I’ve designed is a portable, digital museum. Called “the fever museum,” it is a new(ish?) take on the idea of the museum, a fictionalization, and an exercise in decision-making for the audience.

The audience receives a booklet that tells the history of the museum, which is a fictionalized exhibition of the constructed “memories” of Mildew Barnes, head curator. The last page of the book has a flash drive on it which contains the museum.

Upon plugging the flash drive into their computer, the visitor clicks on the folder reading “THE FEVER MUSEUM.” They’ve entered. In this folder, the lobby, the audience is presented with a welcome document which reads the same text as the book the visitor just read through. They’re also presented with three staircases, or file folders which lead them to different areas of the museum.

Each folder, or room, contains files which the reader is to open at their leisure, although they are curated to be viewed/read/listened to at the same time. Additionally, most folders contains additional doorways (file folders) to other rooms of the museum. Sometimes a reader reaches a dead end; they can then click all the way back to the lobby, or just click the back arrow to retrace their steps.

Exhibition items range from text files to video to sound to PDFs with links. The items in each room speak to the name of the room in a way. The items in each room are the pieces of a memory. The viewer peruses to their pleasure a catalogue of fevers——i.e. passions——choosing their experience as they go along, and encountering every room differently upon every revisit.