CommPose is a single screen interactive video installation utilizing camera phone media. Viewers upload camera phone pictures and video clips to the screen via Bluetooth connection. The footage is played back in sequence, resulting in a collaborative video between the audience and the artist. By turning personal media into a public installation, this work attempts to create a mediated reality amongst people, utilizing the technology that is so prevalent in our everyday lives.

System:

CommPose is a self-contained unit, a modified 12" Apple iBook in a wooden box. It is hung on the wall as a picture frame, constantly playing a sequence of images and can receive new images from a near by camera phone when requested. Within the Bluetooth range, viewers can contribute by choosing to send an image (photo or video) from their mobile phones. The image is then added to the queue and displayed instantaneously

It is intended to be installed in a public space, where people of the community or passer-by can all contribute to their common picture frame, composing a video sequence that represents their collective memory.

Installations:

WhereTheHeartIs as part of Communication Mods (Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada)

Pictures of You. Bed Supperclub, Bangkok, Thailand.

Fabrica Features Store in Bologna: LEFT, RIGHT, CENTER - Your Pictures, Your Politics

Installed at Fabrica, communication research center in Italy

Installed in Seoul, Korea for "Fabrica 10. From Chaos to Order and Back." An exhibition of Fabrica's work at the Zeroone Design Center in Seoul.

* Currently three units of CommPose have been constructed. The installation of CommPose is contextualized according to the audience of that particular installation site. For example, at Fabrica, the piece acts as a triptych digital bulletin board for posting photos for the people working in the building. In Seoul, Korea, for an exhibition targeting young people, CommPose took a more playful angle and the installation was titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". Each screen was designated to be a place for good photos, bad photos, or ugly photos while leaving the interpretation up to the viewer. After sharing the media, the viewer also receives a complementary ring tone.

Artist Statement  |   View video

Project By:

Mark Argo with Ann Poochareon

Thanks: Carlo Zoratti, Oriol Ferrer Mesià, Daniel Hirschmann

Produced at F A B R I C A, under creative direction of Andy Cameron
2005

Contact:

mark[at]argobot.com
ann[at]miserychick.net