Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 9.2
Untitled (camera) from the series '
Shifting Skin
'
2013
by Alison Bennett
McCormick, Alison Bennett, Kim Vincs and Steph Hutchison, uses images from
Shifting Skin
as a basis for a different kind of physical/digital juxtaposition. In this
case, movement data from the Kinect is used to drive a depth map generated from
the photographic image using real-time data from a dance performer (see Fig.
9.3
),
via a custom interface created by McCormick using the Unity game engine. This
process generates large spikes, which, since the image is projected behind the dancer
in stereoscopic (3D) mode, appear to rise out of the image like a bizarre collection
of brightly coloured, needle-sharp spikes. The audience sees a dancer in dialogue
with her own movement data, transformed into a kind of 'figure' formed from the
spikes rising dynamically from the image. This work focuses on creating digital
and physical overlays in the context of a live dance performance. As in
Shifting
Skin
, the human form seems to arise out of the image of tattooed skin. However,
in this case, the form is not supplied by data sent from a remote server, but is
generated by the real-time movement of the performer. One effectively sees three
'performers'; Hutchison as physical presence, a digital humanoid form created using
depth mapping based on Hutchison's movement data, and a digital 'skin' that moves
across the dynamic topography of the spikes.
The third work is
Recognition
,
5
created by John McCormick and performed by
Steph Hutchison. This work, for us, most fully encompasses Jurgenson's definition
5
Recognition
was first shown at the Frankston Arts Centre, 4-28 September 2013
http://artscentre.
