Custom Catastrophe by robgillthings

Interactive installation presented on July 22, 2023 in downtown Huntsville, Ontario, Canada for Nuit Blanche North.
Programmed in C++ using OpenFrameworks and a Kinect depth of field sensor.
Using a complex system based on 'self-organizing criticality', 3D objects were generated and activated (forces were applied to them causing them to burst into activity) by participant's proximity to the sensor. The closer people were, the crazier the motion of the objects and the accompanying sounds were. Samples were triggered by all collisions between objects, thereby forming the audio compositions you hear in this release. The eventual arrangements of the objects formed by the spontaneous activity produced animations with sound and also finished still shots that I will be producing paintings from.
The activity of participants was recorded as arbitrary arrangements of 3D objects and the sounds which, together, serve as documents of living presence - the presence of the participants, the environment and context within which the work was encountered, and the presence of the author of the work (me).

links to website project and event pages where you will find replays of the animations, video from the event, and a thorough description::

https://robgillthings.net/projects/custom-catastrophe/

https://robgillthings.net/shows/evnets/nuit-blanche-north-series/custom-catastrophe/

This was the first time I have programmed in C++, used OpenFrameworks, and used the Kinect - extremely nerve-wracking throughout the six months I was developing this project and I did not know if it was going to work right up until the morning of - but thankfully, by some great miracle, it did!
Expect to see more work from me like this.

Tracklist

1.	crash	4:03

2.	cartoon1	5:21

3.	cartoon2	4:02

4.	cartoon3	4:24

5.	cartoon4	4:35

6.	cartoon5	4:07

7.	cartoon6	3:24

8.	radio	3:40

9.	Menu Advisor - music	4:54

10.	Menu Advisor - text	5:30

Credits

released August 4, 2023

License