Water is both the subject and the substance of this work. The center of the work is the water touchpad, a one-of-a-kind interactive, transparent fountain filled with water and an illuminated stream of water-related words, glowing like bioluminescent plankton in a moonlit sea. The participant is drawn to the play of light in water. Touching words in the fountain, the selection sets off a dynamically generated, associative film montage of data, sounds, films, and texts suggested by their touch. The water touchpad uses custom machine vision technology, created by the artist, to detect the selection. This computer vision system is interfaced with a language analyzer and linked to a database of media segments. The participant’s immersed hand chooses a word, initiating their unique montage. More than an input device, the physical object is one metaphor within an overall cinema-poem.
The Water Book, 2008
The Water Book, 2008
