Life Journey

Life JourneyInteractive Installation at Siggraph96 Contemporary Art
Center of New Orleans July 1996
Mixed medium
laser disc player, 2 projectors, 4 speakers, industrial fan and electric wheelchair

Description

Life Journey is an interactive installation which confronts participants with the confinement imposed by a wheelchair. The piece contrasts the immobility of the participant, sitting motionless in the chair (which is attached to the floor) with the illusion of high-speed travel, created by projections onto the walls on either side, accompanied by the sounds of highway traffic and the force of simulated wind.

The media employed to create the installation include a video component, a motorized wheelchair, and a mechanical and electrical element. The piece is designed so that one enters into a dark space with a single, illuminated wheelchair in the center. As the viewer sits in the chair, the wheels begin to spin, video projectors suspended from the ceiling on either side of the chair are activated, as is an industrial fan located directly in front of the chair. The video projected on both walls consists of images of 70 mph movement that has a sunflower moving thought the frame, accompanied by sounds of the same. --Giving viewer's information that may help them understand that a wheelchair may accelerate the speed and path your life journey takes.-- This vicarious "journey" continues as long as the participant remains seated in the chair and stops as soon as she/he stands up.

The viewer/participant is placed within the virtual environment representing the ability to move from one space to another with the understanding that individuals who live with a wheelchair have limited mobility in parts of their bodies. While the participant remains seated, the wheelchair becomes a contradiction of motion. This juxtaposition of mobility with immobility heightens one's awareness of the loss of control that one feels when confined.

The installation is dependent upon the size and light of the space available.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• interactive installation