For some time, I've been working on a video piece that combines squares of flashing color to form kaleidoscope patterns. I've combined this with carefully constructed audio. The overall conceptual hope is to create a video that draws the viewer in without relying on recognizable images or narrative structure, but still has a satisfying conclusion. With the audio, I connected them such that it becomes hard to tell if the audio is affecting the visual or vice versa, so that they hopefully meld together into one audio-visual element.
The 4 minute film I created without thinking of location, instead of finding a location and picking media that will fit. I have always felt that this video is extremely effective when blown up and the only center of attention, however, and so I realized that some places would be better than others. I tampered with the idea of projecting in the long hallway that connects the Sayles student center from the Burton dorm and dining hall. It is relatively dark and serves only as a thoroughfare, with decent traffic throughout the day and night. I also started looking differently at surfaces, trying to gauge which walls would catch the eye, and how audio would work in the enclosed space.
I finally decided to project on the ceiling of a stairwell directly to the side of the main hallway. The idea was that audio would alert passerby, and that their eyes would then eventually land on the cubes changing on the ceiling.
The project had moderate success. I projected for a few hours during dinner, when traffic was moderately high. Unfortunately, i couldn't get the main stairwell lights turned off because of safety regulations, and I feel this detracted from the potential full effect. While I have no doubt everyone heard the audio, some people walked straight through without looking up, and others, who came in large groups, were too busy laughing or socializing to actually give their full attention to the video. Others stood still to watch for a short time, but none watched the full four minutes, either because it failed to hold their attention, their necks hurt, or they felt uncomfortable standing in a thoroughfare.
I feel this piece did catch people by surprise and perhaps enriched a place they walk through on a daily basis, but it wasn't the perfect combination of place and media. In the future, I'd like to place the video in a dark location with few other aural or visual distractions.
Special thanks to Wain Yee for the documentation.
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