2. Exhibitions + Events

we are only as good as our -
last show

3M building projection -
New Store opening Tokyo Japan.
more

Opening Spectacular -
Hair Expo 2010
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Nicola Watson CD launch -
a fruit extravaganza
more

fortune tellers -
stage settings for agIdeas
more

LightRipples -
at Maitreya
more

iiT-Bombay -
Light Ripples
more

Kingpower -
December celebration
more

BVN Architecture -
Spring Soiree
more

Cross sections in space -
Art Taipei 2009
more

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Crowd

Eyes, Lies and Illusions
2 November 2006 - 11 February 2007
Full $12, Concession 8, Family $30
(2 adults, 2 children under 16, additional children $4)
ACMI Screen Gallery,
Open daily 10am-6pm

Crowd 2006
 

Have you ever noticed the often-graceful synchronicity of crowd movement at large events like the football? There appears to be an innate collective-subconscious functioning that causes hundreds of eyes to move in unison to concentrate on the same focal point. Aware of the gaze of the people around you, your curiosity leads you to turn to look in the same direction.

 

Crowd (2006) by ENESS is a suspended, disembodied community of eyeballs that gaze out inquisitively at the viewer, watching and tracking every movement. As the viewer moves to the left and to the right, the eyes will follow. When no one is present the eyes go to sleep, when someone approaches the eyes wake abruptly to scrutinise the intruder. With artificial intelligence and apparent self-consciousness, the eyes are ‘aware’ of each other. When one pair of eyes detect and direct their gaze towards someone, the other eyes will also become ‘curious’ and look in the same direction.

 

Using projection, real-time 3D computer graphics and a video camera to track the movement of a person in real and virtual space, Crowd is able to simulate natural eye movement and the mechanisms of visual perception. Irises and pupils are projected onto the surface of suspended white spheres, producing the uncanny effect of ‘seeing’ biological entities. A digital successor to the experiments in Optics of the 17^th century, the technology behind Crowd extends and enhances our eyes.

 

Inverting the notion of the viewer scrutinising the artwork, Crowd scrutinises us, as ENESS write “We usually approach artwork and pass judgement, critique it. This work portrays the notion of your every move being watched and assessed.”