Scapes
a Squidsoup project
Scapes conjures into being three-dimensional cities, landscapes and abstract architectures purely from sound, software and light. Chimaera-like visions of ephemeral spaces are created and destroyed in real time. They occupy physical space, but only fleetingly. They leave nothing behind when they, and the sounds that spawned them, vanish.
Scapes is a new project part commissioned by Tenderpixel Gallery (London). Tuned software and specifically designed sounds are used to generate a series of abstract landscapes visualised on a bespoke room-sized 3D grid of lights controlled in real time. As the sounds are played through speakers and picked up with microphones, the visual process can be interacted with - intercepted, corrupted and altered by visitors making their own sounds to interfere with the original audiovisual designs.
The work is part of an ongoing series of explorations into the creative and immersive possibilities of light-based real-time visualisation in physical space. At the heart of the project is a room-sized 3D grid of individually addressable points of light (Ocean of Light) that is controllable in real time to simulate objects and movement in physical space. This bespoke hardware enables the creation of dynamic, interactive, three-dimensional sculptures from light. The resulting imagery has a presence, a location in physical space that allows the viewer to move around and experience the work from any angle.
Squidsoup is a digital arts group specialising in immersive interactive installations within physical 3D space. Their work combines sound, light, physical space and virtual worlds to produce immersive and emotive headspaces. They explore the modes and effects of interactivity, looking to make
digital experiences where meaningful and creative interaction can occur.
Contributors: Anthony Rowe, Chris Bennewith, Gareth Bushell, Liam Birtles and Alexander Rishaug.
More details about this project, and others, can be found on our blog, at www.squidsoup.org
