The following is the conceptual premise for Info Hunter/Gatherer, an Interactive Video Wall Steve Belovarich is currently designing using Max/Jitter.
A video screen projects on a vast wall. The projection reflects the space where it is installed, it is a video mirror. Once a person steps close enough to the projection, their reflection fills with textual characters, similar to the aesthetic of ASCII Art. ASCII is the standard set of characters computers use to work with text. The room is dark and the reflection of the people illuminates the space. News Headlines fade into a virtual perspective in the projection. They float about the video wall, revealing the invisible world of the broadcast communication spectrum. Users of the installation pluck news headlines out of the virtual landscape and blend the content of the news story with their reflection. One person sees the headline “Relatives remember ‘open wound’ of 9/11” and then passes their reflection through it on the screen. Their reflection becomes the content of the news story. It reads “Relatives of September 11 victims bowed their heads in silence Tuesday to mark the moments…The dreary skies created a grim backdrop, and a sharp contrast to the clear blue of that morning in 2001.” Installation participants choose which news stories they want read.
The installation captures live news headlines from World and Local News RSS feeds. A hidden camera sees the people in the space and transmits the video to a computer that analyzes movement. The computer mixes the live environment with the virtual news space. This allows the interaction of participant and RSS feed.
“The caveman hunts for food and gathers plants and resources. We hunt for information. We search a topic on Google and find instantaneous gratification with the computer. We go about our mediated day, filtering out information and selecting exactly what we want to read, listen, or watch.” says Steve Belovarich, the artist responsible for Information Hunter/Gatherer. The spear is an extension of the arm. Media is an extension of the participant’s nervous system in the installation, a concept borrowed from Media Theorist Marshall McLuhan. The current mass media model is a one way spectacle for communication. The news serves to shape and control the bodily and cultural understanding of American citizens. Information Hunter/Gatherer is an environment where people can reflect upon their relationship with mass media.
