Noisy Flesh is an ongoing project exploring somaesthetics, embodiment, new interface for musical expressions.
photo by Winston Young@tsunwinston
In this project, the instrument was designed as two pairs of gloves and socks with accelerometer sensors on as gesture controllers. The controller transmits real-time data via Bluetooth to the mapping algorithm for drum sound synthesis output. While the performer begins his/her performance and dances to the background music, the dance movements can be translated into drum beats. The auditory experience is enriched since this second layer sonic pattern is added on top of the background music. The performer can react to both layers of music, and his/her artistic expression, with the shifting between the identities as a dancer or a musician/composer, can vary accordingly. He/she is also the audience of the performance with the augmented auditory feedback, using it to inspect the movement just now and improve or improvise based on it.
This project investigated the embodiment theory, somaesthetic, and the expanded definition of musical instruments. From the design of the gesture controller, and mapping methods, to the sound synthesis, this project carefully explored and analyzed the design of the instrument, to examine how the instrument shared a relationship with the performer, and how could the instrument support the performing body, particularly the dancing body.
Experiments have done includingïŒ
· asking ten people the same question and generate toys for each one to compare the differences;
· asking people to describe the old photos of them and making wearable generated stuffed toy which enable more intimate connections.Â
The generated stuffed toy transforms the memory and feelings described in audio format to the interactive stuffed toy. The toy is the embodiment of the personal information in the form of a soft sculpture.Â
However, only in a particular time and place, within particular discourse, Â it can tell the whole story it carries, and present the things, make people understand. Â The information on the paper is so rich in content, but it is distorted often. For the papers from a long ago, the information on it doesnât fit in the discourse at the present and is full of the signs of the time. For the papers with a format and be used in routine, our sight focuses only on the particular place where we get the key information. As soon as moving it away from the discourse it stands in, the highly recapitulative and abbreviatory grammar makes people confused. For papers with images on it which is constructed with countless dots, it is a snapshot being frozen, clear or blurred, in different resolution ratios, will the audience receive the same information? Â
Therefore, we amplified the distortion of the information paper carries, Â we mixed information on it complete random without foundation, on the same carrier, back to the same discourse, to examine the distorted information again, focus on every letter, focus on every dot, try to fathom the information it present. Or we wonât try to figure it out, we investigate the carrier which is always neglected. Is it thick or thin, hard or soft, back to the paper, does it carry other information as well? Â Â Â
To present a natural narrative space, we decided to restore the living room of a traditional Chinese familyâs house to invite the audience to interact with the environment. We designed the living room with a projector screen as the background with a TV, a doll that can be interacted with, and a headphone and mobile device set that the audience is required to put on to hear and interact with the audio. The audience is free to enter the room and start interacting with different objects to invoke the related animation and audio. Each interactive method is a signifier of issues including gender education, marriage and reproduction rights that females in Chinese might encounter. The animation visualizes narratively visualizes the issue and the audio plays the debate of female voices speaking on this topic.Â
Individually, I conducted research with a research question of how do females in China consider the constraints from gender education, marriage and reproduction rights happening to themselves. The sound was the digital media I used as an interactive element of the installation. I designed the interactive audio with two channels playing separate sound clips from opposite viewpoints.
My mother had less chance to take part in my activities after I grown up. When I was playing games, she stood beside me watching and being afraid to disturb me. I also want to explain my interest to her but did not find the proper way. Therefore, I want to design a game that I can play with her which will remind us of the time when I was little. The story of the game is a common day of the little girl K and her mother but emphasis the interactions by making these interactive to the players. Every time âKâ interacts with mother, she will grow up a bit, but the mother will also grow elder. Every time âMotherâ interacts with K, she will grow elder without K changing. By this I want to express that if we act more care to our mother, we will grow up together with mother, relatively mother will be elder sooner than we expect.
This game is also prepared for every mother and their child, especially the grown-up ones. By playing this game, I hope it will remind them of their childhood with mother and can also create a chance for them to spent with mother playing like what they usually did in childhood.