A L I C I A B E R G E R
Video
Laughter, Fear & Possibly Rage, 2001
by Alicia Berger & Larisa Montanaro
Laughter, Fear & Possibly Rage is an interactive Video installation that was shown at the Commencement Art Gallery in Tacoma, WA. In it the viewer entered a space with a large projection of a beautiful, but slightly out of focus cityscape. The pace of the video was faster than life and only slowed down when an individual in the video confronted the camera directly. The audio in the piece, by Austin composer Larisa Montanaro, was comprised of sounds of the city manipulated to be familiar, but indistinguishable. In the middle of the room were a set of glowing footprints that faced one another. Nothing would happen if the viewer only stood in one set, but if two people stood facing one another, the room would go to black and text and dialogue would take the place of the city, allowing the viewer to connect to the piece and to another individual.
Larisa and I spent two months together in the making of this piece. All the while she recorded the audio and in the end, when she played back what she wanted to include, I found that a lot of it was personal conversations that were very revealing about myself. At first I protested and asked her to change my voice. She did and it sounded ridiculous and then I decided that each piece of art we make is a self portrait in a way, so, I let her use our conversations.
The following video is a sample of what was shown in the gallery.
by Alicia Berger & Larisa Montanaro
Laughter, Fear & Possibly Rage is an interactive Video installation that was shown at the Commencement Art Gallery in Tacoma, WA. In it the viewer entered a space with a large projection of a beautiful, but slightly out of focus cityscape. The pace of the video was faster than life and only slowed down when an individual in the video confronted the camera directly. The audio in the piece, by Austin composer Larisa Montanaro, was comprised of sounds of the city manipulated to be familiar, but indistinguishable. In the middle of the room were a set of glowing footprints that faced one another. Nothing would happen if the viewer only stood in one set, but if two people stood facing one another, the room would go to black and text and dialogue would take the place of the city, allowing the viewer to connect to the piece and to another individual.
Larisa and I spent two months together in the making of this piece. All the while she recorded the audio and in the end, when she played back what she wanted to include, I found that a lot of it was personal conversations that were very revealing about myself. At first I protested and asked her to change my voice. She did and it sounded ridiculous and then I decided that each piece of art we make is a self portrait in a way, so, I let her use our conversations.
The following video is a sample of what was shown in the gallery.
Parabola, 2000
Bellevue Art Museum's Northwest Annual
This piece is an interactive video installation in which a lone figure moves through space in a dark room with black walls. The area is under surveillance by an overhead camera and as the viewer moves through the room they can trigger a series of sounds and stop video in one monitor or projection and start it up again somewhere else. Originally I had hoped this would happen without props, but the darkness of the installation required that the viewer manipulate the space with light in order for the overhead camera to react. I worked for a year on this piece with Chris Airola from the University of Washinton's Human Interface Technology Lab. Together we researched and found programs that would allow the viewer to interact with video at a time when this was pretty new technology. In the end this piece was, as I hoped, an environment in which the viewer became part of the art.
Click on the video below to see a sample of the images that were streaming in the space.
Below is a short documentation video of the Installation at the 2000 Bellevue Art Museum's Northwest Annual, WA
Bellevue Art Museum's Northwest Annual
This piece is an interactive video installation in which a lone figure moves through space in a dark room with black walls. The area is under surveillance by an overhead camera and as the viewer moves through the room they can trigger a series of sounds and stop video in one monitor or projection and start it up again somewhere else. Originally I had hoped this would happen without props, but the darkness of the installation required that the viewer manipulate the space with light in order for the overhead camera to react. I worked for a year on this piece with Chris Airola from the University of Washinton's Human Interface Technology Lab. Together we researched and found programs that would allow the viewer to interact with video at a time when this was pretty new technology. In the end this piece was, as I hoped, an environment in which the viewer became part of the art.
Click on the video below to see a sample of the images that were streaming in the space.
Below is a short documentation video of the Installation at the 2000 Bellevue Art Museum's Northwest Annual, WA