Rock all the Things
April 12th, 2012 By some bears
People who step onto balance boards in this interactive installation are complicit in the production of a collective painting. They participate in a process that combines traditional artistic mediums with networked electronic communication.
Each of the two balance boards can be manned by one, but are large enough to accommodate two, affording the chance for human connection through serendipitous engagement. Bystanders dictate the color of the painting, dipping balls into nearby paint buckets and tossing these into the production frame. The paper in the framework is replaced and the painted piece hung up to dry. People take away the work as a record of their collaborative effort.
This project evokes the nostalgia of our childhoods through a combination of three formative games: labyrinth puzzles, Montessori balance boards and marble paintings. The two-dimensional art in the production frame evolves organically as users movements on the balance boards transform into digital signals. These signals are communicated over a short distance to the double-axis production frame, where the kinetic movement of paint-covered balls are a focal point of the performance.