Cornelia S.V. Sproat: The Sky is Always Blue
Artist(s):
Title:
- The Sky is Always Blue
Exhibition:
- SIGGRAPH 1998: Touchware
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More artworks from SIGGRAPH 1998:
Creation Year:
- 1997
Medium:
- Interactive Installation
Size:
- 10" x 25" x 31"
Category:
Artist Statement:
Truth is stranger than fiction. This interactive touchscreen work includes visuals and explanations of some of the more peculiar aspects of light and vision phenomena that have fascinated me since I was a child. I think everyone has spent time rubbing their eyelids and staring at the resulting phosphene patterns.
The original idea for this piece came from seeing startling inverse parallels in Aboriginal and Native American cave painting. A rock outcropping in Arizona has an imprint of a hand on it in pigment, while a cliff face in the outback of Australia has the outline of a hand surrounded by pigment. This observation seems obvious and elementary at first, as the human hand is the seminal tool we first use to make sense of and manipulate the world, but in a larger sense it speaks of the interconnectedness of all things.
In The Sky is Always Blue, a hand is used as the main interface metaphor, and in conjunction with the touchscreen monitor, it gives the user a more direct and personal experience than a mouse-driven interface. With this piece, I am experimenting with new ways of conveying interrelated memories, explanations, and experiences to others.
