Matt Gough Blog [closed]: motionbound notes
Thursday, Jun 2 2005, 02:00
well, the events of the day overtook me and i spent more time talking than blogging, so here is a collection of thoughts and observations from the day;
hugh macleod
the concept of viewing movement (gestures) as points in space rather was suggested as a means of moving from direct mapping to dynamic systems in sensor based performance systems. whilst i welcome the move away from linear topology (direct mapping) I'm not sure that arbitrary feature extraction of coarse movement traces will lead to more 'open' systems. i also think that the labels used needed looking at;
there was also a need to recognise that feature extraction of points in space without a reference model is not gesture recognition but gesture perception (or imposition). the segmentation movement without context or recognising the feature range of discreet and compound gestures will generate quantitative not qualitative data.
there was intermittent discussion of "how long does the subject linger on the edge of the volume..." (video and pdf , NYT review, village voice WNYC radio interview [real audio]). issues included a desire for the work to have been shown live and the reported $1.27 million spent on developing the motione technology. with troika ranch using EyesWeb and Isadora to achieve similar goals (generative visuals from qualitative data) the differences in cost and portability were interesting. if we want to extend and develop the use of performance technologies we must make them more assessable and portable, what ever happened to the e-merge software that was supposed to be made available?
the afternoon opened with a short performance of a work in progress by Heine Røsdal Avdal, who then went onto discuss his working process and aesthetic. glitch art and tecnologia povera (see arte povera) were the order of the day. it was good to hear heine place technology and 'flesh' on an equal level and to express (re-present) the failure of both systems within his work. issues uncovered included the location, size and shape of the projection plane, how far do we / can we engage the audience in the performance making process (whilst they are spectators).
Ed Burton from soda (interview from 2002) explained the development of sodaconstructor and the emergence of a sodaconstructor user group that took the tool beyond his expectations. apart from playing with sodaconstructor you should also look at the sodazoo and other soda projects. if you like sodaconstructor check out moovol.
igloo spoke about their experience of using motion capture over the last 10 years and hinted at a current project to develop an artwork using a game engine (the unreal engine). I'm really excited to see how this works out, not only to play the game but also mod the work to make choreographic machinima.
Johannes Birringer bemoaned the state of the art seeking hot interaction rather than the cold interaction we a currently presented with. He wanted more cultural engagement with technology and more expressive, full length works rather than 'works in progress' and 'technical sketches'. whilst i agreed with much he had to say i believe that some of the issues related to general arts practice rather than methods for developing arts uses for existing and emerging technologies
the need for new tools made by artists for artists (or arts based programmers) was clear. i hope that soon our reliance on tools made by people insensitive to arts needs will pass.
i finally got to meet Elizabeth MacKinnon who was attending with doncaster peers including Kate Sicchio, which made me wonder if Lucy Field and Article19 will work out a way for lucy to post video of her working process. Kate did such a good job documenting Playing Grounds it's a shame more dance artists don't follow her example. a greeting to everyone i met and i look forward to speaking with you again.
all in all a great day... thanks to all involved. hopefully next time i'm at an event and can blog i will deal with it a little better and get sort updates out on a regular basis (any idea of wi-fi at laban?)
Filed by Article19 at 2:00 PM | 
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