infonoise

infonoise is an interactive work constructed dually:

as a gallery installation in real space, and
as a performance event in virtual space.

The work investigates the phenomenon of information noise, and takes the form of a multimedia spectacle containing both philosophical and psychological content. Using projected newspaper headlines from the international press, it attempts to demonstrate how ideas, symbols and icons can be transformed by different media. The intention is to transpose the sensation of global infonoise into an audio/visual experience that will enable participants to interact with it. It is an exploration of objectivity within changing cultural contexts, yet from the perspective of the individual .

An 8m fibreglass sculpture forms the heart of the gallery installation. It provides a surface upon which daily headlines from international newspapers are projected. The interaction starts when the system detects a visitor entering the installation space. The system responds with audio/visual changes directed at the visitor, underlining the personal, unique nature of perception of the information flux.

The virtual phase of the project is an online internet performance in the form of a theatre event. Here, the virtual space of the internet is constructed as a theatre, with its usual elements: foyer, stage and auditorium. There is also a company, with actors, director, composer, technicians and others.

Central to both works is the form of the Moebius strip. This is a very specific shape imbued with complex meanings - it exists both as a mathematical abstraction and a real object. Here, it functions as a symbol of the relationships between real and virtual reality, conscious and unconscious, rational and emotional and personal and social levels of human activities. The phenomenon of moving from one side of the strip to the other in a continuous flow is accepted as a symbol of this class of categories.

Allied to the Moebius is the Ouroborus, an ancient symbol represented by a snake biting its own tail. It symbolises a secluded developing circle within oneself, the idea of motion, continuity, parthenogenesis, eternal life. Its movement is the result of a specific algorithm.

This document contains outlines of both the gallery installation and web event. The following pages give a closer outline of the web event.