MANIPULATE MEDIA
experimental workshop on Performative Development of Ubiquitous Media
7,8 July 2005,Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland

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In a nutshell

The performance demo

Plastic Video 1: Cubes on glass surface

Plastic Video 2: Spaces and bodies

Plastic Video 3: Staging objects and media

Practical session 2: Concept demo

In a nutshell

- The performance offered the possibility to experience how constraints help be creative

- Giorgio de Michelis argued that objects exist through multiple affordances, that they are multi-modal and multi-medial, a notion that blurs the distinctions between interface and content

- The practical sessions with the installations allowed to experience how constraints inform design and how constraints emerge in design.

- Matthew Chalmers presented his notion of seamfulness and how to make clever use of seams

- The discussion sessions invited to move from creative use to reflection and to the sharing of experiences

- Barry Brown looked at performance/representations connecting places (e.g. how being there was influenced by interaction with people in a remote place)

- Participants explored concepts, materials and techniques, thought about new relationships between people, objects, space and media.

There were three installations within one room. There were simultaneously used by three groups. Each installation was used by two different groups during the practical sessions. In the first practical session the task was to construct a narrative using one of the three installations and working with two self-defined constraints (to physical action, time) and to present the narrative collaboratively. The task for the second practical session was to perform without speaking, and to find new interesting constraints.

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The performance demo
The idea was to show participants working with creativity and exploiting the role of constraints that can be imposed (designed) within collective activities. Two actors (under the direction of Carlo) improvised scenes working with different types of constraints: Separating the body from the voice or the hands The man as carpenter who has constructed a chair for the woman his client. The constraint being on the carpenters side, inform of the separation of hands from the body. A woman actor plays the gestures of the hands for him; thereby they influence each others actions. Two actors representing rabbits in a cage waiting for an experiment, and two in chairs opposite them playing their voices. Constraint is the separation of the voice from the body. Restricting the number of words (one, three words): The woman as a computer scientist trying to communicate with a preacher. The setting is a park bench. They are restricted by a verbal constraint, she can only construct sentences with two words, and he can only indicate meaning with one word, they need to build meaning with each other's fragments, to create sentences. Working with competing tasks: A man coming to confess to a woman priest. The constraint being conflicting tasks, they try to steel a object from each other during the confession. For practical use the object chosen was a sheet of folded paper attached to the persons in form of a tail. Setting time constraints: A bus driver (woman), she suddenly sees a penguin (man) in the middle of the street. The scene is enacted thrice, initially without time limit (4 min) and sequentially within 24 sec and 13 seconds.


Here pictures

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Plastic Video 1: Cubes on glass surface
Composing video clips with small cubes, whose faces are selectively covered with visual markers, that are placed onto a glass surface, under which was a camera. The glass surface was relatively small so that only three cubes could be aliened joining each other. The space was divided into two areas, the upper rectangle was dedicated to recognize video files, and the lower one for audio files. A separate marker was used to activate the reading of the installation. A constraint was, that one could not interrupt the process once an arrangement was activated it would play until the end. The installation was reprogrammed so that the last image played would remain as projection, until a new arrangement was activated, so that one would gain some time to reflect upon the process. Also the gaps between the cubes were integrated so that one could use time as an element, redefining the meaning of certain combinations. The initial concept was to take a theme and show clips of different genres that would allow for the construction of controversial points of view into a series of connected images. As the raw material was not suitable for the occasion, we decided to use segments of very different clips, and audio material, so that it was possible to completely re-contextualise an image. There were several different approaches to label the markers on the opposite face of the cube. We used a particular still from the clip to represent the content. A more associative approach was to take an image from a completely different clip, to give space to a different reading of the clip. Some of the cubes used the more abstract medium of drawing to differentiate the clips. All the visual markers connected to video files, were represented with images, so that it would be easier to make sense of the material and to support the redesigning of arrangements. The audio files were covered with white cardboard, because we were interested in the annotations the users would create to represent and remember a certain sound. This approach was not successful, because they found other ways of ordering the cubes without marking them.

Reflections on practical sessions:
Their common theme for storytelling had been holidays. They concentrated on the use of the visual material, and realized that there were random time-space gaps between the activated images. The rhythm of their performance came from the engagement with the interface. Participants picked up cubes, positioned them telling something, which was picked up by one of them whose role it was to repeat some of the words she heard. At this point the installation had been programmed to display the images without intervals, independent of the physical gap between the cubes. During the performance the system became stable. The participants did not want it to because the complexity of interaction with the interface had served to enrich the story. Punctuations had been surprises, now that images and sounds could be related the process of framing against uncertainty no longer worked. How can one combine the methods improvising or showing points of attention and revisiting them. The metaphor of the media as dirty trick of manipulation. They used the cubes as props were one person was handling them, and the others were betting on the cubes to contain certain images. There was a building and pilling of cubes, and different people shouting out choices, but always the same image would appear for a few seconds on the screen. They could not make sense of the images and did not want to base the story on the physical limitations of the interface.
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Plastic video 2: Space and Bodies
Using visual markers to invite and visualise the relation of people within a place. The initial version of the Installation was created for two users, and the space was associated with the metaphor of an elevator. The idea was that two people meet in a confined space; it was a large place but reduced by the cameras optic that could only recognize the markers limited to the area within a certain angel of view. Each marker represented an image, so that the conversation was between two people facing the wall, and two images that would appeared on the wall projecting across each other swapping the obvious sequence of images. In the practical session the users started to explore the installation alone, leading a monologue with images, because we had left the markers unattached free to take and use. There was a lot of confusion as to which of the images were created by whose marker, because the camera could read markers at several meters distance and the images of markers that people whore in the crowed watching would appear as projections on the wall. The images were also very unstable, and some people where better than others in gaining some control over the creation of images. One of them plastered himself with markers and tried to create a specific rhythm by repeating a sequence of motions that would reveal the various markers to the camera. The concentration shifted from the content to the process of image making and group dynamic. The content of the images was an advertisement for chips from which stills were selected to allow for combinations of two images giving very different framings that could transform the film into other settings. The stills were quiet images that needed some time to interpret; they concentrated on facial expressions, small gestures, the light situation, props, and the space. In addition to those stills there were three more images that were non relating from different clips, the idea was to have something that introduces a second situation and stimulates interpretation by interfering. The users did not have the time and patience to relate to the images. The installations were not constructed to entertain a large group of users. The groups found other ways of using the tools to expand the possibilities of interaction. Observing the users we changed some of the concepts of the installations adapting them to the interests and requirements of the situation. The second model of the installation allows for the visualisation of more complex time and space relationships. The images were split into thirds so that three markers were required to recreate an image. The size and format of the image was influenced by the distance between the camera and the marker. This increased the awareness of how the users relate to each other in space; as their positions and distances between each other directly influenced the projected collages they created. Since there was a time-lag between the reading of the image and its projection, it was possible to overlay two images in the same place, adding another layer to the process. As the images were very unstable we decided to introduce a time-lag, whose length would increase with the number of markers that were simultaneously read. This system allowed for a very rhythmical use of image making, a long with the possibility of holding onto an image resulting in an increased control of the resulting collages.
Reflections on practical sessions: Unstable technology made it difficult to hold onto an image. They started a relay game in which they competed in the presentation of images. The posing for images and the possibilities that one person or several users have in effecting the projected images. The person around which they constructed the final presentation was very involved with space and how vehement movements could influence the results. He was not focused on the content of the images he was producing, but on the action of creation. He tried to gain some form of control over the images by repeating certain sequences of movement, but had been random in his choice of visual markers and their association to his body. It was a solution for making a two person system work for the collective by using one actor and the passive audience. How can one create ones own editing system. Some of the users had not been very effective in getting the installation to work, and the parameters were not obvious. The malfunctions were very interesting, but made it difficult to decipher an action-result pattern. The flickering between images in one place caused a confusion of choices and started to dictate movement. How far do we manipulate media and the media us. They called the narrative "choreography on the fly": Two people were activating the installation determining the rhythm and content of the images. Their gestures were integrated into the individual gesture cycles of four participants that formed a network generating variations of motion. They acted as transmitters of action, thereby extending the physical space of the installation. They were delays and intervals between reactions as themes for the interpretation of action, with the viewer as the person to make sense and create a narrative out of the performance. How the pointing at actions changes the way they are perceived. Repetition and small variations as means for remodelling context and creating a new content. Re-designing the installation
- Splitting images into thirds - three markers are required to recreate a complete image
- Making size and format dependent on distance between camera and marker - users’ positions and their distance from each other directly influence the projected collages they create
- Playing with the time lag between the reading of the image and its projection - overlaying two images in the same place
- Playing with the time lag that increases with the number of markers that are simultaneously read - resulting in a rhythmical use of image making along with the possibility of holding onto an image
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Plastic Video 3: Staging objects and media
The concept of the third installation was to experiment with the relationships between actor, space and action, using tagged figurative objects. We were interested in how far the same set of images would be reinterpreted by changing the sequence of action and adding different sounds. The setting was a café at Heathrow airport where they gathered around a wooden table remembering a trip to Alaska. The physical table soon proved to restrictive, so they removed it remaining seated in an open semicircle facing the wall on which they projected. Time lags made it difficult to concentrate on the parallel tasks of story telling and using the figures to activate the installation. The waiter was called upon to orchestrate images and sound, thereby setting a time constraint, giving structure and rhythm to the group. They held some of the props in their hands personifying them to create new content. The verbal improvisation of the speakers served to break and enforce the sequential narrative of the installation. A uniting and reoccurring theme was that of the grandmother. The second group made puppets out of the props, also using some parts of the other installations. Playing with the figurines they introduced them as shadow actors into the setting of the projected clips. Merging the shadows with the images to transform the scene, or using the image as background in which smaller events could take place. In this way they could re-contextualize the content and create a space around the projections, making a stage in which the images became three dimensional. The puppets represented the element of control, with which they tried to structure the randomly appearing images and sounds. Constraints forced people to generate a grammar similar to that of improvised theatre. The props had several functions their digital content was used to trigger the installation and their physical form served to widen the space for interpretation.
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Practical session 2: Concept demonstration
First demo: Pez dispenser networks, the refilling and sharing or Pez that as they go through different dispensers are recoded. They carried a three letter message associated with flavours that are then given to a particular person in response to the dialogue they are leading. The action is to squeeze the dispenser acting as catalyser for the flavouring and imprinting of the code. How can flavour be used in combination with text messages to substitute for the lack of gestures and eye contact that usually gives a better sense of how to interpret the words. The relevance of coded messages in media, how specific is communication, abbreviations as personalised use of language messages. The problem of interacting with different interpretations and meanings of a code. How minimalist can a code be to maintain meaning, how flexible is a code so that it can be used in a wide set of contexts without becoming sense less.

Second demo: Participants were standing in a row with cards that were inscribed with letter combinations. They had a conductor that seemingly gave them (the machine) directions to the order in which they should show their cards. Sometimes errors would occur, but these were in no relation to the sense making of the letter combinations, because the chosen combinations did not always make sense in the first place. There were phases in which the machine ran hot and was more rapid and then again it was slower. The integration of technology and performance, how is meaning created and in what context can it occupy without loosing its former sense. The individual roles of actor, operator and conductor to what extent are they dependent of each other, the effect of seams and genetic transitions. Bugs in the system making language, determining output by sense making. Media as a performance, as a tool and a medium both directing and reacting. Waiting to see what happens with the focal point and improvising when it changes independent of our intentions. The concept of the focus as the thing that gets you in a space and binds you to it until you realize that you are on a stage.

Third demo: Reorganizing a cinema so that the consumers have more influence on their choices. Every person coming to the cinema can take one DVD to the show, and a technology based on random selection will choose one of the DVDs from the whole. An alternative to this system would be that every person can take a seat with their own small screen and can watch the DVD of their choice in the Cinema. Choice and systems of dominant media recommendations. The popular get more space and overfill themselves. How can one create a system in which the people have space to discover and reflect upon their own choices. What strategies would the people form to forego the system of random selection. Questioning the openness of the system, a vanished architecture of alternative cinemas. The trading of movies in a public cinema space, were everybody has their own small screen. How to break out of the predictable movement of groups. How can normative systems lead to unpredictable outcomes. The sensual physical place combined with the options of changing its structures virtually. The roles of passive and active spectatorship.
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