projects
Behind the Bars
Description
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Within the setting of a mock prison cell, the viewer approaches a series of elusive cinematic sequences and finally finds herself on the inside of an oppressive image environment. A series of lasers and photo-detectors and capacitance sensors transform the space and the prison cell bars into control mechanisms by which the viewer navigates the media environment. The sound, video, light and narrative structure of the piece respond to the viewer's position in the space and the touching of the bars, creating a multidirectional, layered, aleatory experience, which is unique each time. The key media elements of this installation are a series of five video sequences and an internal surveillance camera, all triggered and paused in response to the viewer's behaviors and continuously reconfiguring their temporal structure. Premiered at the Central American Festival of Cinema and Video in Nicaragua, this new piece has attracted immediate international interest.
The Space
Translucent plastic stretched over a dismountable skeletal frame creates an enclosure that is conditionally isolated from the outside. When unoccupied, this long hallway is completely dark except for red pinpoints of light from the lasers. A visitor entering the hallway triggers the photo-detecting sensors and the first segment of video is initiated. The video is projected onto a rear projection screen that is configured vertically, rather then horizontally, at the end of the hallway and behind a set of bars. Moving toward the bars, the visitor passes through three “layers”, each triggering distinct segments of video. These videos are original film footage relating to oppression in Latin America. Each time a visitor enters or exits a layer, the change in video is accompanied by a bright flash of light that briefly inundates the darkness. Additionally, as the new segment of video begins to play, the video from the exited layer is set to pause; when the visitor returns to any layer, the video resumes playing at the point at which it was interrupted.
The bars are equipped with hidden capacitance sensors. Each of the right and left bars triggers segments of video. Touching the center bar, however, triggers glaring overhead lights and a switch to an internal surveillance camera, positioned at the top of the screen and pointing at the visitor, who looks towards the camera from behind the bars. This image is projected onto the screen in front of the visitor, who effectively sees herself “behind the bars.”
UCLA HyperMedia Studio
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