You are a part of art - ACMI Interactive installation

In the digital age, the word ‘interactivity’ is usually used to describe interactions between humans and machines… today, we may interact with a videogame simply by waving our arm; in the future, we may be able to do so with our brainwaves. – the explanation board, ACMI

WAHOOOO. Two dinosaurs are fighting. Sounds they are quite furious. OH now the dinosaurs become butterflies. But wait, how come the butterflies have BIG TEETH?

And in the front of the screen two teenagers are laughing hard because they just made their own version of Transformer, by waving arms and making gestures.

The installation, unlike those traditional art works, requires your participation. If no one stands in the front of it, the screen will be blank. But when you walk to it you will see figure of yourself appears on the screen like a monster – with animal snarl sound.

Because the interactive installation is so different with our traditional art works, I have been thinking if we can consider this installation as an art work. It is a visual motion program, the changing figures and background wild sounds bring a memorable audio-visual experience. It is a creation, the sound it makes, the lines and shapes that appear around arms are all unique and original, showing designer’s aesthetics. Simple triangles and circles, orderly and mixed lines, dark and light tones help to enrich the screen. The figures on screen are grey tone at the moment - colorful detailed figures are hard to create but they will be more effective.

I believe that interactivity is a trend of art presentation. As the installation’s explanation says, in the future the audience will have more chance to enjoy being a part of art work – even with the brainwaves!