2019: Volume 11, Issue 1 - Table of Contents

 

"That'll give the pigeons something to do. . . "

HYGIENIC DRE$$ LEAGUE CORPORATION in collaboration with Connected Cat

"That'll give the pigeons something to do. . . " is an interactive street art piece by HYGIENIC DRE$$ LEAGUE CORPORATION in collaboration with Connected Cat for the unsuspecting public in downtown Detroit, Michigan, USA and presented by Playground Detroit art gallery. This installation took place on a vacant glass storefront space facing the street. The viewer is integrated into the art not only as a digital physical presence but also with the ability to affect, manifest, or alter imagery within the installation. Through mediated environment the viewers create an entirely unique experience at every moment through their interaction.

Going forward the artists plan for similar public video facades to be developed into a series installed in various locations, each integrating a different set imagery and symbolism from HYGIENIC DRE$$ LEAGUE CORPORATION's ongoing conceptual narrative. These installations can feature many different visuals including one with digital silhouettes of pigeons that fly away when disrupted, and another that puts golden gas masks and suitcases on the reflections of all participants who step in front of the window. Another one could replace humans entirely with interactive animated models of animals. This could be installed on the outside wall of the museum or another location in the city.

Hygienic Dress League (HDL) is an American corporation registered in 2007 by husband and wife visual artists Steve and Dorota Coy. Their large-scale public interventions have surfaced in over eighteen different cities in eight different countries spanning across two continents. Their work has been recognized in both critical and popular media including New York Times, Hyperallergic, New Yorker, Bad at Sports, The Economist, USA Today. Their work has also appeared in books "Detroit City is the Place to Be", "Canvas Detroit", "The Unrealestate Guide to Detroit", films, "Detropia" and "After the Factory" and "Low Winter Sun" a TV show.

Connected Cat (Maxim Safioulline) is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist, working primarily in code and exploring the intersection of interactivity, and personal and social identity. His works have been presented in Copenhagen, New York, Montreal and at the World Expo in Shanghai, China.

Computer based interactive art has been around since the 1990s but has not really been explored and applied in a street art approach, one that could reach an unsuspecting audience. The interactivity and visuals themselves are a social experiment examining the relationship between humans, nature, and technology. The project incorporates new developments in digital interactive interfaces and leverages their ability to create mediated environments.

The technologies used in the installation include motion and depth sensors, open-source platforms for programmed interactivity and animation, and new techniques in video projection. Put together those technologies facilitate the construction of a hyper-mediated environment situated on the border between augmented and virtual reality.

The audience and the participants are invited to question their own place in the interactions so heavily mediated through the use of digital systems. The aim is to explore and re-appropriate the technology of entertainment in the artistic context.

The project exposes the peculiarities of human behavior and the relationships between people and cultural artifacts. The participants engaged in the interaction are allowed to tap into their whimsical, childish impulses and engage in play-like behavior with objects and images not ordinarily intended for play. The novelty of the experience encourages this playful exploration. The spectators observing the participants are invited to examine human self-identification with cultural artifacts. The underlying absurdity of social rituals is exposed to them through the transference of the familiar elements into the unfamiliar environments and interactions.

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