Shadow Play (working title) is a new Polyglot work created by Creative Coder Steph O’Hara as part of the Generator program.
At its basic level, Shadow Play is a playful space for participants engaging with sound and light through projection and mapping of bodies in space to create sound and shape. Unlike many other interactive digital experiences though, Shadow Play is an ever-changing, nuanced and intriguing world that the participant never quite understands. There is no loop, no recognition of pattern or purpose – it is an ever-changing palette and as such – totally absorbing,
In the experience, your shadow – clear and sharp - is joined by another shape that matches your own – an abstract form that can be similar in shape to your human one, or shards of light and blobs of jewel-like colour. This shape becomes your companion, your adversary, your ghost self, your aura as it changes shape and form, reacting to your movement. The sounds respond too, swelling and speeding with large gestures and constantly shifting in tone and feel. The sound is an immersive element that supports play, drives character and drama, and holds the child in a total, imaginative world. The ever changing and complex variety of tonal shifts sit behind, under and in between the child, their shadow and their shadow’s shadow.
It’s a magnetic experience that sees participants perform extraordinary moves to active response, without self-consciousness or inhibition.
Once the relationship between the live human and the digital image is realised, the drama begins. Imagination takes over and suddenly you are fighting a giant, or gently reaching out to a shy alien, or filled with crackling power as another shadow crouches at your feet. As more people join the play, the world created becomes complex and interconnected as all the single journeys and choices are linked and changed by more bodies in the space.
Shadow Play has endless possibilities. Because each participant is mapped as they enter the space, their physical contribution is picked up no matter what their engagement. Little or no movement elicits a satisfying response as well as big and fast. The experience is deeply enjoyable, compelling in its endless offer, and enormous fun.
We have seen it work for children aged 6 to adults – the play is very similar, the relationship between strangers in the shared space easy and joyous. The spectator to the work is treated to a strange, wonderful often hilarious visual extravaganza, as the three worlds work together – the live human, their shadow and the shadow of the shadow.
“That was SO fun” Hux aged 8
Steph O’Hara - lead artist, creative coder and sound artist
Peter Walker – visual programmer
Tina Douglas - interactive sound and visual artist
shadowplay prototype from soh_la on Vimeo.
m-ball has been lucky to have received funding from Darebin Arts Partnership Program (2019) to further develop m-ball. Working with targeted organisations, I presented a series of workshops using m-ball as a musical instrument. Points of interest include collaborative, interactive, musical composition and participatory performance-making. Partnering with disability organisations focusing on accessibility and developing our inclusive arts practice, this development process gave me valuable time to further develop the work and to foster my relatiohsips with Croxton Sepcial School and Northern Support Services.
m-ball prototype from soh_la on Vimeo.
Further software developments have included :
• Video + Data Player : a desktop app to simulate multiple virtual devices. each device can playback video and sync data alllowinng from rapid development of musical instruments and data analysis algorithms.
• begun using machine learning to help identify gestures using Wakinator
• mini hardware version : prototyping of components, ESP32, sensors and power management.
m-ball mini prototype from soh_la on Vimeo.
‘he.rd’ is a participatory sound experience using you and your mobile phone to create an experience that spans across several days. It begins at home, then brings an audience together to a designated location to participate in a group ritual blending sound art, technology and participation.
This work’s intention is to tear apart the different forms of making and presenting art, embedding technology within the work and expanding the definitions of performance space. This work embeds itself in the everyday life of it’s audience and moves into an immersive participatory performance of ritual, herd behaviour and sound.
Your phone becomes part of you, your identity and your entry point into an immersive sonic world. The work begins when you first open the app, tells other participants you have joined and have begun the journey. Over the next few days you can open the app anytime to hear a generated sound track using the locations of all the participants. As you move through your day, travelling or staying at home, the soundscape reflects you and those around you.
Hours before the performance, you are notified to begin preparing. Then, as you travel to the performance location, sensors on the phone begin to wake up, beginning to contribute to the soundtrack. It is now driven by which way you are facing, how fast you are travelling and how noisy it is around you.
As you approach the performance location, you can see others who look like they may be participants. But are you sure? Suddenly you hear a voice, ‘Stop’ it says. ‘Look. Can you see them? Are they looking at you?’ Through sound and voice, you begin to participate in ritual and become immersed into a world of strangers, to fear the other, to care for them, enter into imaginary portals and warp reality in a new shared experience.
he.rd prototype from soh_la on Vimeo.
Tome is an interactive, sound-based installation designed specifically for children and their grownups. Appearing as a field of strange, glowing, spherical objects strewn across the foyer floor, participants are invited to create sound and light using proximity of hands and body to the installed objects. Real-time compositions are generated while responsive splashes of colour are illuminated within each sphere. Inspired by the joy of making music with others, this cooperative musical instrument encourages participants to explore and share the possibilities of creating immersive musical worlds together.
Tome goes hand-in-hand with a program of participatory, artist-led workshops. Each workshop is an oppurtunity for young audeinces to explore the musical possibilities more deeply, working together to create small performances using this unlikely ‘instrument’.
Infinity Dance Jam is an interactive installation that is designed for art centres, galleries, early education hubs and dance festivals. It promotes accessibility, community and the universal nature of dance!
The structure for the work is a big screen that invites the public to dance in front of it. The dancer’s images are then captured and projected live and multiplied to INFINITY!
The work acts like a time capsule and captures all the participants and their dance moves over the period the installation exists in a space. The result is one big video collage filled with different bodies of different abilities, cultures and generations all dancing together.
IDJ is an exploration into pairing movement and motion capturing technology with a highly shared community experience. Using depth camera data and machine learning algorithms, dance movement is translated to musical gestures and dynamic visuals. This interaction between movement, visual and music, creates a feedback loop completely controlled by the participants, giving them control and ownership over their experience.
idj prototype from soh_la on Vimeo.
idj prototype from soh_la on Vimeo.
Inspired by a creative development working with Insight Education Centre for the Blind, Dinjerra Primary School with Polyglot, this exciting project will be further developed. A number of test prototypes have already been used and explored. Stay tuned to this new and exciting interactive story telling project.