Beckon

generative audio via touchscreen interface
dimensions variable
2014

two guys using a touchscreen to interact with the artwork Beckon

The locations of up to four touch points control volume and playback speed of looped excerpts from “Touch Me” by The Doors.

Touch-based devices like smartphones often call out to us, promising a seemingly infinite variety of experiential tools for entertainment, productivity, and performance of identity. These technologies fuse intuitive sight/sound/touch sensory modes into immersed attentional states that can handily trump the massive cognitive dissonance required to continue using them.

(audio excerpt from Beckon in action):

Beckon was created expressly for Together, the inaugural exhibition at Diode Gallery in Portland, OR. Visitors used a single touchscreen to interact with a dozen different artworks throughout the gallery. Their touches were interpreted independently by each piece. The graphics on the touchscreen (shown above) were created by Surya Buchwald.