Seeking Beacon
3/11/04
Continuous interactive video light sculpture
Seeking Beacon was first created to be installed in the Frying Pan lightship. Lightships were provided by the Coast Guard as a visual, sound, and radio beacon for passing vessels. They were discontinued in 1985 and replaced by GPS satellites.
As two way communications technology gets smaller and more portable we become beacons ourselves... when we ask where we are we in turn reveal our locations. It's becoming harder to get lost, and even harder to not be found.
Installation dates
October 24th, 2004 - Live-I Year:0 Troika Ranch
May 3rd, 2004 - ASCI (presentation only)
April 25th, 2004 - Live-I Troika Ranch
March 11th, 2004 - asktherobot: PROGRAMMED
Video documentation:
2min 28sec
HiRes 13.5Mb
LowRes 6.2Mb
What is it?
Seeking Beacon is a low tech interactive video light sculpture. It was preceded by The Calling and is the second in a series of related works based on retroreflective materials and video projection.
The users movements are used to control over the approaching light rays. As the special reflective tape moves in a direction beams of light follow. This tracking movement is done simply with video feedback. With this version there is no PC attached, making it a real time and very stable interaction design.
Future versions may include sound and more controls over the quality of the light, other reflective objects and materials ...etc. Stay tuned...
"I have spent my career building interactive instruments that allow live performers to transform the motion of dancers into video, sound and light. Creating a truly sensitive instrument that can be easily understood in a few moments is a particular goal for installation work, and one that is difficult to achieve. The mapping of movement to light in Andrew Milmoe's work clearly succeeds in this regard. Its properties are quickly understood by the viewer, but it also has such a sensitive response to the user's action that it rewards deeper exploration. It is unlike most installations where the simplicity of the interaction limits what the viewer can do. Instead, it is easy to use while producing very beautiful and varied results."
- Mark Coniglio Artistic Co-Director, Troika Ranch Dance Theater
Produced for:
asktherobot
PROGRAMMED!
Soundtrack "Semaphore" by
Kinski courtesy of
Sub Pop records.