Entry Title:

1D Shadow

Category:

Professional Interactive Design

Position:

Gold

Design Director:

Carlos J. Gomez de Llarena

Design Team:

Concept, coding & installation:Carlos J. Gómez de Llarena Production Assistance: Aya Karpinska Lightbox Event Production & Planning: Hayden Blackmon Special thanks to: Cycling 74 user forums

Company:

Med44

Client:

Lightbox

Website:

http://med44.com/

Individual Credit:

Hayden Blackmon, Event Production, Lightbox

Individual Credit:

Carlos J Gomez de Llarena, Media Architect, Med44

1D Shadow is an interactive video installation that allows people to experience the flatness of a one-dimensional space. Visitors to the gallery see two white walls on opposite sides that display 14-foot tall vertical bands matching the colors of their clothes trailing them as they move. The project uses a ceiling-mounted camera and computer vision software to detect the people inside the space. The colors of their clothes are extracted and turned into vertical color stripes projected back onto the walls of the space in real-time. The installation was part of the first Lightbox's Lab artist residency, a high-tech creative event space in the heart of New York's Garment District, with clients in the PR and marketing industry. Artists were invited to propose multimedia experiences to be developed during the three month residence. Technically, the project utilized a DSLR camera with a wide-angle lens that was attached to the ceiling facing downwards. The live video was fed onto Max 7, an audio/video processing software, for color analysis and other effects that generated a video with only saturated colored bars from clothing. Using projection mapping software, the bars were projected onto the walls and scaled so they seemed to follow your position. We called the effect of his piece a "1D Shadow" as it resembled an uncanny shadow chasing you in another dimension of flat geometry and color. It was easy to recognize your 1D shadow as an inviting and playful interaction once inside the space. These shadows left trails as people move, temporarily painting the walls of the space. As more people entered, many additional bands appeared and their colors blended with those of others moving about. This created an empathetic experience and aesthetic of space in an era where racial and gender tensions are rising. The interaction also provide a unique backdrop for taking a selfie of your 1D shadow. Many adults and children were seen striking poses and snapping their own in solitude or in groups. The project drew substantial inspiration from the metaphysical literature work of Edwin Abbott's "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" and the aesthetics of Op Art masters from the artist's hometown of Venezuela: Jesús Rafael Soto and Carlos Cruz-Diez. Additional ideas of multiple dimensions that provoked this concept included Michio Kaku's "Hyperspace" and Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" film. It was our aim to recreate an experiences of flat, one-dimensional spaces like these by creative use of digital media and installation art.