The “mother of all senses”–touch is the sense which became differentiated into the others. The skin is the most ancient and largest sense organ of the body, yet few arts engage it directly. In his 1921 The Manifesto of Tactilism, Futurist Filippo T. Marinetti outlined a radical new “Art of Touch”. It is in this spirit that I propose to bring “poems told by touch” to Bumpkin Island via the construction of a small tactilist theatre. Updates will be posted on the project page
Part of the Bumpkin Island Art Encampment, Labor day weekend in the Boston Harbor Islands
“The sea is barely wrinkled, and little waves strike the sandy shore. Mr. Palomar is standing on the shore, looking at a wave. Not that he is lost in contemplation of the waves. He is not lost, because he is quite aware of what he is doing: he wants to look at a wave and he is looking at it. He is not contemplating, because for contemplation you need the right temperament, the right mood, and the right combination of exterior circumstances; and though Mr. Palomar has nothing against contemplation in principle, none of these three conditions applies to him. Finally, it is not “the waves” that he means to look at, but just one individual wave: in his desire to avoid vague sensations, he establishes for his every action a limited and precise object.” more coming soon
Palpable City - Eindhoven Palpable City is part of ImageRadio, November 2-4, 2007 in Einhoven, Netherlands. Updates soon on the new project page
decorticate fell + People think through their bodies. A change in body is a change in thought. The limits of
the body are surprisingly plastic. Project wear-woof investigates the
relationship between the phenomenal understanding of the body and the
experience and understanding of space. project page
troglodyte + Troglodyte stems from the collaborative efforts of three members of the Topological
Media Lab: Erik Conrad, Jose-Anne Drolet and Justyna Latek. The project consists
of an ongoing series of experiments/interventions that investigate the relationship
between a phenomenal understanding of the body and the experience and under-
standing of space... project page
gestural light + This research functions as material studies for creating responsive environments, using light that is shaped by movement and gesture. Ambient lighting and projected video are explored. In the case of projected video, in general, the video is not to be viewed as a framed image object, but as illumination.project page
palpable city + palpable city is an extension of my MS work at UC Irvine, TactileSpace. Palpable City is a large scale tactile installation. The everyday experience of space is augmented with an invisible tactile
landscape, where one navigates less by vision and more by feel. For updates see the project documentation.
study: gesture | water | light | This
project is a materials study for creating responsive environments.
Projected video is used, not as a framed image object, but as
illumination that is shaped by movement and gesture. The participant's
actions are transformed into a breeze that disturbs the light as if it
were a pool of water, offering a tactile visual experience. more
sketch: attention and action recognition +
Action recognition describes the similar neural response to both
performing an action and observing similar action performed by someone
else. Based on the fact that creatures with different sensory motor
capabilities segment the world in different ways (visually, temporally,
sonically, etc...), this exercise uses some common computer vision
techniques in novel ways to create alternate forms of visual perception
for use in responsive objects/environments. more
æther + æther is an experiment in how new technologies of
representation affect human perception. It acts as a haptic surface for
computer mediated visualinformation to enable tangible experiences
common to painting and sculpture, but rare in digital media. By
immersing the experience of reading into a haptic visual space,
different ways of seeing are allowed to dynamically combine and
separate, giving rise to new forms of visual expression and reception. more
irnerio + You are about to begin reading
about Erik Conrad's interactive narrative 'irnerio', based on Italo
Calvino's novel, 'If on a winter's night a traveler'. Relax.
Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you
fade...more
Invisible Relations + with Yoichiro Serita,
Elizabeth Adams, Maryann Westfall. This project is an experiment in
creating a space that recognizes the untraveled paths between people.
As people enter the space, connections between individuals are 'drawn'
onto the ground via an overhead projector, providing a visualization of
the 'Invisible Relations' between people and perhaps inviting new and
unanticipated interactions amongst the individuals. more
Mouse over the above image links for project descriptions.
Archive of older work. Some links may be defunct.
© Erik Conrad 1998-2008
