Hyperrhiz 7
Ambient Media Art: Two Works
Brett Phares
Marist College
Citation: Phares, Brett. “Ambient Media Art: Two Works.” Hyperrhiz: New Media Cultures, no. 7, 2010. doi:10.20415/hyp/007.g01
Abstract: My AMA blend text, imagery and context with reactive sound and display to retrain viewer sense habits. More sound:more talk:more definition; and conversely, less sound: less talk: less definition. The work might promote rudeness, with increased use of things that make more noise, like a car horn on the street, or a cell phone in an office lobby. The goal is to promote participation in the public realm, to contribute to a conversation, to push a viewer to ask around for clarity.
READ ARTIST STATEMENT: Your Divided Attention
Looking Sideways v.9
«Looking Sideways v.9» takes a cue from tele-prompters as media, in a series of retail window installations combining data monitors, projectors and contact microphones, all attached to computers that respond to the environment. MediaDrifts (described in "Your Divided Attention") are displayed on backgrounded data monitors, while sound levels outside the retail windows dictate how projected text is displayed; for example, if the street is quiet, the projected text can be murky or unclear; if a group of people on the street makes a moderate amount of noise, the projected text will take on greater clarity; if the street becomes too loud, the projected text will appear similar to the quiet street.
Here, Full v1.0
A 12-inch square, one-inch thick slab of yellow-brown wax sits upright, attached to the wall, with a contact microphone embedded inside the wax slab. The embedded mic is connected to the input jack of a computer running custom software. Small speakers hanging from the ceiling and centered in proximity to the embedded mic, are also connected to the computer. The computer filters sound from the embedded mic and to the speakers, begging the question, 'what does wax sound like?'