The Watch Detail

BILL SEAMAN
Source: BILL SEAMAN

Bill Seaman

The Watch Detail ,
Co-workers & Funding
commissioned for the City of Palo Alto Centennial Celebration
Documents
  • THE WATCH DETAIL
    image/png
    1234 × 930
  • The Watch Detail
    video/mp4
    480 × 360
Description
The first major interactive work was entitled The Watch Detail (1990). Video images, sound and text that addressed the subject of time were explored interactively. This work employed Macintosh Hypercard media, that was used to control an interactive laserdisc. Thus the work became a meta-media time piece. A large database of time-oriented images, and texts could be navigated, juxtaposed and/or re-oriented in time. The media-time of the image could also be explored where a participant could move forward, backward, stay still, as well as move fast forward and fast backward. An elaborate poetic text made of short individual observations about time was made available to the user of the system. The participant could juxtapose any of the video and still material, move from chapter to chapter, edit segments, trigger sequences of encoded database material in relation to chosen selected textual criteria, view a set of still images with text superimpositions, or view material in a linear mode. A linear video also exists with this title.
Keywords
  • aesthetics
    • visual
  • genres
    • installations
      • interactive installations
  • technology
    • hardware
      • MAC
Technology & Material
Software
The initial version ran Hypercard Voyager Press Video Stack on Apple Computer driving an analogue Laser Disc via x commands. Pioneer LD-V4200 Disc player had a digital frame buffer and would store the last frame played before each search to a new location on the disc. Laser disc included approximately 30 minutes of video and large still library. Hypercard Programming Mark Abbate, Bill Seaman
Sound
Soundtrack created by Seaman with Performer Software on an Apple SE Computer, with DX&IIe keyboard, Akai S900 Sampler and Alessis HR16 drum machine.
Exhibitions & Events
Bibliography