3 Physical Computing Artists

Scott Snibbe

I found Scott Snibbe when looking up physical computing on the web. While working in physical computing, Snibbe also works with writing computer software; many of his advancements he uses in his own works. One of his most notable pieces Boundary Functions, he created a narrative between the physical space and his computer construct. Using video-cameras to track the movements of people within the space, he used projectors to create physical links between the people in the space. A voronoi diagram was used to divide the floor (on which the viewers were walking) into smaller geometric shapes that were physical representations of personal space. While he has ceated many other works that have piqued my interest, I felt that this particular project was something that interested me, based on its real-time components.

Daniel Rozin

Daniel Rozin is an artist who also works with real-time components to make interactive constructs that is dependant on user interaction. Rozin works a lot with the idea of using mirrors to put the viewer in as the subject of the artwork. Using live cameras, the data sent to the computer moves individual pieces of material (generally in the shape of a mirror) and tries to accurately portray the colors that the camera is picking up. Essentially this becomes a mirror, even though there are usually no reflective properties in the materials that he chooses. He has created a variety of these mirror apparatuses, each made out of a different material (such as trash and/or wood). I think I responded really well to this body of work because I felt that it was not only innovative, but it was interactive without forcing any physical interaction with the viewer.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is a Digital Media artist who commonly works within the field of physical computing. While dabbling in various areas within physical computing, Hemmer is most notably known for his obsession with perception as well as the size of spaces. One of his more recent works Voz Alta was the scale of a metropolitan area. Using Mexico City as his base, Hemmer hooked up a mega-phone to four spotlights that were in the middle of the city. As people (who were using the device) spoke louder and softer during certain point, Hemmer set up the spotlights to brighten and dim in response to the speaker's voice. By watching the lights, a person was able to infer meaning based on the ways that they pulsed. He also offered (through radio) a way for people in Mexico City to listen to what was actually being said over the loudspeaker. I really found this interesting because with his use of scale, he was able to expose his art project to not only a select few, but a majority of a major city. I think his use of space is fascinating and I am definitely interested in learning more.