Digital Interaction

As part of Posebyen Backstage, I invited architect Haavard Tveito from Alma Eik to open up a part of the ongoing development of Artscape, a digital artwork we have been developing together.

Posebyen Backstage is built around the idea of giving audiences access to artistic processes while they are still in development. Rather than presenting only a finished work, the project creates opportunities to share experiments, questions, methods and collaborations along the way.

This evening, Haavard and I focused on digital and immersive experiences, and on how movement can influence a projected image.

We explored how the system can register and respond to movement in the space without the use of motion-capture suits, markers or sensors attached to the body. Through the relationship between camera, software and projection, movement becomes part of the work itself, influencing the digital image in real time.

Making it visible in the streets of Posebyen.

But rather than simply explaining how the technology works, we invited the audience to try it.

The guests were able to experiment with the projections themselves, testing how their movements affected the image and discussing what happens when several bodies interact with the same digital environment.

This is an important part of Posebyen Backstage: creating space for experimentation and conversation around the work while it is still taking shape.

For Artscape, the evening also became an opportunity to test how technology, architecture and artistic expression can meet in a shared space. Haavard brings an architectural perspective, together with his artistic knowledge, to the collaboration, while my own work is rooted in performance and visual expression. We are both interested in how a digital layer can transform the experience of a physical space — and how the people within that space can become active participants in what takes place.

The evening in Posebyen was therefore not a presentation of a finished artwork, but an opening of the process.

And that is precisely what Posebyen Backstage is about.