Membrane

Promo Video Membrane
video/mp4
640 × 424
03:18

chris_salter_membrane_2
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400 × 76

Archived Blog: http://spongemembrane.blogspot.co.at/

Membrane is a responsive installation by the international art research group Sponge that proposes a novel way of communication by gestural interaction. Large sheets of translucent Lexan plastic are suspended in the air space of the exhibition hall and responsive video textures are projected over them. As visitors walk past the Membrane, their image leaves a trail on the screen. The effects change depending on the activity of the people around it, and on the course of time over the hours and days. The Membrane invites the people on both sides of the screen to engage with each other because of how it transforms what each person sees through it.

Two video cameras facing out from the screen provide live video feed of passers-by on both sides. Approaching the Membrane, you see a video of people on the opposite side re-projected onto the translucent Membrane material. Your movement perturbs the video of the opposite side of the Membrane that is composited with the video of yourself. By sweeping your hand, you reshape what you see of the other person. The real-time calligraphic video effects vary and include dynamics of water, smoke, shockwaves or particles according to the gesture and movement of the passers-by. Interaction is conveyed by a mediated tangibility devoid of physical touch. Our gestures change our perception of those on the other side of the membrane.

The interface seems to provide a safe distance, which makes it easier to interact with other passers-by. Yet, the membranes are porous: the interaction with other players creates a rich social and sensorial layered context where physical presence and media worlds merge. Though we are not physically touching those we are engaging with, there is definitely a materiality seeping through the membrane. It is exactly this tangibility that creates the sense of an intimate exchange. Due to the increase of virtuality in our quotidian communication, gestures have lost centre stage, yet in Membrane they play a pivotal role in shaping the responsive media environment: with a swoosh of the hand or a sway of the head we construct our own calligraphic video sculptures.