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"Notice" was installed at Slow Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, in March 2003, in a gallery space approximately 16' x 24' x 10'. The installation includes several elements: main projection, computer for users, "photo booth", a small floor-level monitor, a flat panel monitor, "writing wall", and photos.
Stools, which may be moved around the space, encourage users to pause, to watch, to notice what happens around them, both on the screens and in the gallery.
The main projection displays a combination of video footage with selections from the database of text "notices" submitted by users. The text is selected randomly, in real-time and changes every minute. The mechanism for the selection, combination, and display of the text is a PHP/MySQL program which runs on a server. The program selects a single entry from the database of user-submitted text at random, and displays it. For example, "I saw a dog on the roof of a Thai food shop." The video footage is a 13 minute silent loop playing on a DVD, and the text is displayed on a computer monitor. These two signals are combined into one via a converter box and video mixer connected to a projector.
A computer for users is included in the gallery to enable users to submit things they have noticed to the database. In this way, the database of "things noticed" constantly grows and evolves via direct interaction between the users and the installation. Once a "notice" is entered into the database, it can be projected. However, since text display is randomized, the user's submission may or may not be projected while they are in the gallery.
The "photo booth" creates a small private area separate from the larger public space. However, the back wall of the photo booth includes a small window (or "peep hole"), enabling users to look into the space, over the shoulder of anyone inside the booth, thus bridging the private space to the public space. The monitor inside the booth displays 5 video segments on a 20 minute sound loop.
A small floor-level monitor displays four video segments an 18 minute silent loop. Floor cushions next to the monitor encourage users to sit down and watch the video.
A flat panel monitor is hung on the wall inside a matted frame, and displays four video segments on a 25 minute silent loop.
The "writing wall" is a place for users to add their "notices" in a more immediate, tangible way than by using the computer, and enables users who are not comfortable with computers to contribute. Users are invited to actively engage with the installation, and not just via a computer; they are able to tactilely interact, to physically engage the space. Simple: grab a marker and write on the wall. It also provided the unexpected "interaction" of a person placing an advertisement for their partyline on the wall (photo at right).
Photos. which are stills from the video footage, are hung in a large grid on the wall. Text from the database is handwritten on the photos, joining my visual notices with the text notices contributed by users. This is the one aspect of the installation where text from the database was deliberately chosen by me rather than randomly selected via programming.
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