Notional Field is an interactive installation that consists of a wall-mounted sculpture containing hundreds of vertical and parallel lines made of elastic cord that are projected upon with a computer-generated, interactive animation of a similar number of lines. The motion of these projected lines is ruled by a simulation, which makes them act like soft ropes, and said motion is influenced by a viewer’s movements as interpreted by a computer that surveys the scene through a video camera. Thus, the physical gestures of the participant are translated into virtual forces that affect the computer-generated lines, while the physical strings of the sculpture remain motionless. The piece revolves around the idea of interface, which is interpreted as the point of contact between two different entities, and is displayed in the work in several ways: between the viewer and the piece (a human/computer interface); between the real and the virtual (the physical structure and its relationship with the projected structure); between the foreground and the background (as the projection interferes with the sculpture).

Notional Field was created as Nervous Structure (field) for the 10th Bienal de Video y Artes Mediales in Santiago, Chile, 2012. It was then developed into our Notional Field and Transposition series.

Mentions and Reviews

• 10th Video and Media Arts Biennial: Against the Dominance of Machines. Art Nexus, Issue #84 Mar-May 2012.
• A Light Projection That Blurs The Boundary Between Physical And Digital, Fast Company’s Co.Design. February 8, 2012.
• Triangulation Blog. February 2, 2012.