Input / Output show: The Gallery Phone
The work of this year’s MA Interactive Art & Design students focuses on the mutual relationship between audience, artwork and artist, and aims to encourage your unique contribution and experience of the work.Using the simple concept of input/output as a starting point, each piece of work in this exhibition maps a particular type of interactivity. When we understand the nature of inputs and outputs – be they social or technological – we can begin to focus on the varied complexities of human life.
Interview with MA Broadcast Journalism students
Review of the Gallery Phone
The Gallery Phones true possibilities became clear when the piece was interacted with; I had primarily been concerned with the controlling elements of the gallery space, the instructional voices that interrupt our daily lives, and the CCTV that is all around us. My initial idea was to create a booth that resembled a CCTV station, where the viewer would be given the rare opportunity to take control as an anonymous voyeur and have the chance to speak directly to the gallery.
This felt too similar to power imbalances that already exists in these spaces, so I decided to open it up and use a telephone as the device to ‘speak’ to the gallery; by using an everyday and accessible form of communication, the focus became more on opening dialogue in the space. During the exhibition, this is exactly what it was used for, participants first approached it carefully, reading the instructions on the wall, pressing buttons, and finding some of the responses amusing. However, when they realised how it could be used, they returned to experiment; shouting their own instructions through the mouthpiece of the phone to friends across the room and making playful announcements to the gallery. The technical process of this project was time consuming, and relied on a lot of support, as most of it was new to me, this was a risk I’m pleased I took, as my knowledge of the programs Pure Data and Cubase will be invaluable for future projects. The sound, however, could not be heard clearly at the exhibition opening, as the levels could not compete with three other works using sound and the voices of the audience in the space. During the one-day show, it would have intrigued much more interaction if the phone were to ring and invite the viewer in.
I was pleased with my choice of space; I thought it worked well combined with the exhibition information on the entrance wall. For my next piece of work I plan to spend much more time on sound checking and experimenting with enclosing my audio to reduce the possibility of it being affected by other sounds.
The one day show 18.01.07
