repercussion live: chord and drums

Installation in Savannah Gallery, Atlanta, GA, USA, February 9 -March 19, 2005

Part of DIGITAL COTTON show

Artist: Carla Diana

::video1:: ::video2 ::video3:: ::video4:: ::setup test::

This piece is about the joy of human expression through music, inviting users to actively and simultaneously participate in both performance and musical composition. A projection offers immediate visual feedback in which specific musical elements are mapped to simple objects on the wall. Four sensors suspended from the ceiling read users' heights, which then correspond to the tone in a chord. Eight sensors along the wall match the beats in a rhythm. Essentially, the work is a human-powered musical instrument. Human presence and collaboration are required to compose a song.

The piece is part of a larger collection of virtual musical instruments which can be found online at http://www.repercussion.org

It was made possible by a Presidential Fellowship for Faculty Development from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Figure 1, above. The visual display for the projection. The height of the boxes on the left is controlled by 4 distance sensors suspended from the ceiling, measuring the viewers' heights. The size and opacity of the blocks on the right are controlled by the distance that each of eight viewers are from distance sensors placed on the wall. A tone is created by each box on the left, and a beat of a rhythm is created by the blocks on the right.

Figure 2, above. Another configuration of the "chord" and "rhythm".

Figure 3, above. Four sensors are suspended from the ceiling to measure height. Eight sensors are connected to the front wall to measure distance from the wall. These measurements are mapped to the "chord" and "drums", respectively.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Carla Diana is a new media artist focused on the balance between the technical and the creative. She is currently Professor of Interactive Design at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. Originally from New York City, she has an MFA in Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from the Cooper Union. She has received several awards for her interactive projects, and was featured as one of the Art Director's Club "Young Guns" for 2001. Her latest piece, repercussion.org, was the Experimental category winner in the 2003SF Flash Forward Film Festival. Much of her work deals with interactive audio-visual experiments, where user responses are translated into shifting melodies and dynamic graphics. Her professional clients range from independent filmmaker Atom Egoyan to Ford Motors, and recent projects include creative direction for an animated Math e-learning product as well as design work for Scholastic, Inc. Please visit http://www.carladiana.com to view samples of work.