Chunky Move

Chunky Move - Mortal Engine - a dance, video, music, laser performance
Via fabrikproject.com .
More technical description on: bigambition.co.uk

Body Paint

Body Paint is impressive, funny and engaging the public to interact with the whole body movement. Work by Mehmet Akten using Computer Vision and openFrameworks: More on his blogg: memo.tv "Body Paint is an interactive installation and performance, using the body as an instrument to paint on a virtual canvas and interpreting gestures and dance into evolving compositions." Custom software analyzes live feed from infra-red cameras in real-time, and converts shape and motion into colors, drips and brush-strokes. The software was written in C++ using the open-source toolkit openFrameworks and computer vision library openCV.

Interactive Snow Projection

Large scale snow sculpture at Mount Buller illuminated by 3d projection software by ENESS build by interaction designers from Australia. See on YouTube

Tools to play with

The last few months I dive in to the different tools searching for the best motion tracking possibility. Five days PD (pure data) workshop in Warsaw with Marco Donnarumma aka S.A.D (Thanks to Asia aka Deftoo since she organized) give me some good grounds to start of. As a part of my Screendance program at Dundee University I just have a workshop on Isadora led by Jaygo Bloom (Thanks for sharing!). Isadora is build on Pd´s framework. Both programs have a visual interfaces which apply to my way of working. Isadoras GI (Graphical Interface) is friendly constructed. For those interested in Isadora is good to mention that soon will be a conference and introduction workshop on 19, March 20 in Doncaster UK.

Back on the track: Mapping motion

From September 2008 I am a MA student at the University of Dundee on Screendance program.That may explain the temporary silence on this blogg. However I intend to continue with the short visual notes as a highlighted spots of my explorations on dance, performance art, audio visual real time performance and vj culture. That in relation to the physical movement and development of new technologies.

The short resume:
The point of interest in my work is on physical motion and human body as an interface.
My thesis: Mapping motion is a cartography of the idea, a “developer map” (game-design term which refers to a phase of investigation and experimentation). It is as a visual exploration, a library of physical movements navigated through graphical symbolic representations of physical motion.

The motivational parts of the investigations are questions which connect to my former experience as a dancer and performer: What is causing movements authenticity?
Haw to translate and augment physical movement it in to the digital environment whit out looses of emotional presence ? In the context of visual art, real time performance and game development I see the body and the physical movement as an excellent interface extending many senses for the performer, user or viewer.

The perfect scenario for me as a vj will be; to control the visuals by dancing:=) Vj-dancer? As a dancer; to augment the emotional state of movements by visuals. As a dancer and visual artist the perfect scenario vill be if the visuals react on the emotional presence of the movements.