SANDBOX (R)EVOLUTION


Curator: Dr. Nick Bryan-Kinns (UK)

SANDBOX (R)EVOLUTION showcases ten interactive installations that have evolved under the theme of new or pre-loved materials, repurposed as interfaces for manipulation of digital realms. It is a playground of innovative technology in which familiar materials such as wood, fabrics and magnets generate visceral experiences, blurring the boundaries between real and imaginary, hard and soft, fact and fiction.

The exhibition’s namesake, sandbox, is both a reference to the physical place where children create imaginary worlds and the digital sandbox used in software development to test new code. The sandbox is a place where ideas originate, where physical and digital materials are combined, shaped and repurposed. We invite you to enter the exhibition to encounter obscure objects in a playful environment, perform peculiar sounds, and reflect on the Ars Electronica 2019 festival theme “Out of the box” from a place where alternative futures are possible.

The exhibiting artists are part of the EPSRC+AHRC Media and Arts Technology Centre for Doctoral Training at Queen Mary University of London, UK, which provides a bridge between academic research, digital technologies, and creative industries.


BLOBBOX

Sebastian Löbbers (DE)

Using computers, smartphones and other electronic devices has become a crucial part of daily life. But how do we interact with our devices? How might they become a more intuitive extension of ourselves? BLOBBOX is an attempt to imagine an alternative narrative where hand recognition becomes the predominant interface.

Chowndolo

Giacomo Lepri (IT)

The Chowndolo is an interactive sonic sculpture based on a magnetic pendulum: an oscillating stick whose trajectories are altered by magnets placed underneath the device.

Data Dreaming

Andrea Guidi (IT)

Data Dreaming is a multimedia performative installation driving nuanced gestures to create ethereal audio-visual compositions with an interface resembling a household lamp. Rather than addressing functional requirements, the wood pyramidal object invites viewers to explore and compose enchanted sonic textures and fictional visual renderings.

Keyboard + Mouse

Jack Ratcliffe (UK)

If the medium is the message, then in an age of cyber-bullying, trolls & great political divides, is it time to consider the impact of the interfaces of our online communication? This piece, an interactive keyboard and mouse made using 100% natural wool, invites the audience to experience whether the softening of our hardware could soften our harsh communication edges.

Machina Incantatii

Anna Nolda Nagele (AT)

The work Machina Incantatii is a wall hanging made of conductive yarns and fabrics that combines physical and representational materials into an interface for a magical ritual. By touching the conductive patches on the cloth, powers assigned to the elements of this world and energies of the universe are called upon to generate new knowledge and meaning.

Ολοι

Antonella Nonnis (IT)


Ολοι (pronounced Olly) from the Greek “all” is a tangible sonic interface made in felt and stretch lycra. The idea was that of creating an orchestra where different instruments are activated by pulling the colored stretch lycra. Each instrument plays a different scale of notes. When the lycra strings are pulled together, the sounds form a soothing composition and the users are able to create different harmonies. The work was developed to stimulate social interactions during play time with Ολοι for a group of five minimally to non-verbal children with autism who like music.

Rhythm of the Heart

Nicole Robson (UK)

Inspired by artistic activities that bring new life and meaning to everyday objects, Rhythm of the Heart is an interactive installation that repurposes a metronome to move in time with our heartbeat. It reverses our relationship with the object and exacts a kind of revenge as the metronome fights against its pendulum mechanism to swing in time with our internal rhythm.

Rumpus

Angela McArthur (UK)


Rumpus is a cinematic VR film made in collaboration with the BBC. It follows a modern-day Eurydice as she searches in London’s clubland underworld for Orpheus. Visually decadent and thematically magical, the film’s imagery is counterpointed with a form of sonic voyeurism and ambiguity in sound-image synchresis.

INSTRUMENT SEMATARY

Lia Mice (AU)

INSTRUMENT SEMATARY is an interactive sonic sculpture created from broken, pre-owned classical instruments that have been brought back to life with a new digital identity. Inspired by Stephen King’s Pet Sematary in which deceased animals return to life with unfamiliar, evil personalities, this work explores the environmental choices of musicians and instrument designers, and our responsibilities to preserve historical hand-crafted musical instruments that are becoming increasingly out of fashion in a digital age.

Sound Stitcher

Brendan O’Connor (IE)

Sound Stitcher comes in the form of a 100-year-old sewing machine. Although it no longer functions as before, participants can still interact with its variety of controls to design noise instead of cloth.

Project Credits:

• EPSRC+AHRC Media and Arts Technology Centre for Doctoral Training (EP/L01632X/1)
• Queen Mary University of London

Biografie:

Dr. Nick Bryan-Kinns (UK) is Director of the Media and Arts Technology Centre (MAT), Reader in Interaction Design, and lead of the Sonic Interaction Design Lab at Queen Mary University of London. He researches interaction, engagement, and inclusive co-design practices. The showcase SANDBOX (R)EVOLUTION was curated in collaboration with the MAT PhD students Andrea Guidi, Anna Nagele, Brendan O’Connor, Giacomo Lepri, Lia Mice, Sebastian Löbbers, Lauren Edlin and Rosella Galindo.