initBefore (2011)

Video documentation of interactive installation work using openframeworks and Kinect.

Full Description

One work of four forming part of the exhibition nullPointerException. The software installation pieces in nullPointerException hide and reveal interpretations of aspects of software code through interaction. These works refer to the fascia/interfaces between human ideas and machine execution. The installation works use the Microsoft Xbox Kinect as its primary sensing and interaction device.

initialise memory before use Computer programs remember in volatile or non-volatile memory. These bits of data remain invisible unless read by the program and converted into something understandable, a colour, a number. These bits of data have no meaning if they are misinterpreted. The programmer needs to clear memory before it is used. In initBefore the wave- or raise hand gesture is seen by the software as a sign that the player wants to clear an area. The hand position is used to clear, albeit temporarily, an area of the visual space.

Computers do the same thing over and over with variations occuring depending on the algorithm that was implemented by the programmer. The layered cross hatches mirror the way an algorithm loops and writes in areas of memory. From the result of an algorithm it isn't always clear what path the algorithm took to achieve it's result. By creating a cleared space the viewer/player can see details of the hatching process without the preceding hatch marks to clutter the working of the algorithm, a lens showing how the software works, without having to inspect the code.

Work metadata

  • Year Created: 2011
  • Submitted to ArtBase: Thursday Oct 2nd, 2014
  • Original Url: http://vimeo.com/34825018
  • Work Credits:
    • maiatoday, primary creator
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