Dadabase :: 2004
Technologies Used: Java, JSP, Director with Lingo
Description
Users are encouraged to interact with the generative art interface. The Shockwave movie records (x, y) coordinates of mouse clicks and sends it to a JSP, which converts them to UTM coordinates corresponding to maps of Del Mar, La Jolla, and Point Loma. The UTM coordinates (used for a GPS device) are then written to a flat file. The performative aspect of the project is the navigation to the various user locations and the exploration of those sites. Documentation consisted of still photos of 16 locations within San Diego. A large orange ball was used as a means of marking each of the locations.
Interface
Conceptual
The performative aspect of this project reflects the dada absurdist spirit, but beneath the surface it explores issues dealing with our digital age. It contrasts two forms of interactivity. The first is the interaction between the user and media space. The second interaction exists between the user and physical space using the artist as medium. It creates a symbiotic relationship between user and artist whether the users are aware or not. The user provides data, which governs the artist's movement and the artist provides an extension of the user's interaction as it might be translated in the physical world. This interactivity is subsequently linked to navigation both within a browser and outside its bounding box. The linking of arbitrary generative art with another arbitrary event of performance is meant to break the confinement of a digital project from the monitor.
On Data
Dadabase raises some interesting questions about data. To what extent does data become its own entity? To what extent is its control merely a result of human interpretation? A restriction we place on ourselves. In this project we are creating what is essentially useless data. Yet this data takes on a quasi-animistic quality. It controls the movement of the artists. But we the artists created the rules for interpreting this arbitrary data and agreed to follow them. In a sense, this project is commenting on a way data functions in society.
Source Code
Please feel free to use my code, learn from it, take it, etc.
Locations:
