FISHBROWSER
VERSION 1.0
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| Developed
at Machines and Migratory Bodies residency, Chichester Institute of Higher
Education, England 1998 |
Physical
appearance
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A computer
monitor stands on a podium and displays a Netscape browser. A cylindrical
aquarium containing a lionhead fish (aka "Geekfish") hangs in front
of the monitor. The browser image appears upside down when seen at a
distance through the tube, but can be viewed normally when seen close
up. A small video camera monitors the tube.
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Migratory
Body
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At the
time of aquisition Geekfish had already undertaken a migratory experience,
imported from Singapore. I suspect that Geekfish had not an inkling
of a thought about it's finny relations native of ocean, lake and stream.
I suspect that Geekfish has no recollection of anything, but lives in
a constant present. Geekfish travels by tube. (A single line.) But within
this seemingly dead-end journeying back and forth along the watery channel,
Geekfish performs a migratory internet surf.
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Choreographical
structure
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Geekfish
improvises within a simple structure; a horizontal path with vertical
and rotational diversions implemented at will. Bodily movement is defined
as coming from a central source, rippling out to peripheral body parts
enabling smooth projection through space, with gestural movement occuring
mainly around the mouth area. The performer reacts spontaneously to
environmental stimulation, such as change of light levels from the flickering
monitor, and the presence of audience, who also tend to interact with
additional finger-flicking of the tube.
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Technical
details
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BigEye,
developed at the Steim Institute in Amsterdam, is a computer application
designed to take realtime video information and convert it into Midi
messages.
Big Eye
tracks Geekfish whose transition through hot zones trigger voice samples,
evoking the notion that Geekfish can actually speak to the public, and
to the computer, or vice-versa. Simple statements are registered by
the Speech Recognition extension in the Mac, consequently opening designated
html documents in the Netscape browser. The thematic content - video,
animation, image, text and sound, based on sushi, sex, junk food and
danger - of these pages allows the audience to relate the randomly triggered
webpages to the personified fish.
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