Discrete events in noisy domains
Discrete Oscillating Toys
(from the catalogue Extagram/Oscilo)
Discrete Events in Noisy Domains is the general framework of various ongoing small-scale events or objects organized around a paradigm of noisy domains. These events deal with the phenomenological differentiation of clear and noisy signals. Extagram/Oscilo consists of a multitude of objects incorporating custom-designed electronics that map the site-specific space with sound and video images. These pieces elaborate on the density of "core" space within noisy habitats, its data-flows consisting of sound and visual transmissions and its hums and oscillations. Pick-up microphones, sensors, and a video camera gather these various audiovisual sensations from a usually invisible core.
Mood-changing, interactive toys, and electronic pets are continually being produced around most of the planet for all generations, including the latest Japanese trends regarding toys made especially for older people, designed to express love by means of sound and which comfort the elderly population with their mere presence. Toys made in a variety of shapes and materials ranging from pocket-size plush and vinyl characters, to large scale immersive spaces that can be modularly upgraded, reflect the need for escapism and comfort, especially present in diverse modulations of the kawaii phenomenon, a Japanese cultural tendency toward cuteness, that continues to influence toy manufacturers all over the world. Just as Roland Barthes has described in his famous essay on toys, adults supply children with toys that help children form new microcosms, which are exact smaller replicas of the world of adults. They are modular "doppelgängers" that function as units in building synthetic micro-worlds where false interactivity, fantasy, and imitation blossom. From vinyl action figures from popular television series and movies such as Star Wars and Teletubbies, to cartoons such as Pokemon and Pucca, to the famous Hello Kitty character made by the Sanrio corporation, My Little Ponies, Pikatchues, and Tamagotchis that are continually consumed in a tremendous number of variants and sizes. The uncanny existence of some of the features of these characters is heightened by their helplessness, simplicity, and so called interactive and personal relation with the owner. Since the inception of the first mechanical dolls and decorative sound boxes, to Thomas Edison's invention of phonographic Talking Dolls, until the current day, toys that produce sound continue to be the most desired and appreciated products on the market. Audio-toys are able to produce onomatopoeic sounds, or more usually, upon being triggered by a touch or external sound, pronounce their own name or some common phrases related to play. Stuffed toys continuously invite one to touch and squeeze them with their almost amorphous, yet always strictly branded, and softly defined outlines. Collectible character figures can be squeezed or pressed in order to produce simple sounds, or even be trained to respond in certain ways by means of pre-recordings.
Objects from the Extagram/Oscilo series address and question the main features of contemporary toys by means of close personal contact through touch, simplified cute shapes, and the construction of micro-worlds through modularity and limited, mostly sound-based interactivity. Extagram/Oscilo sculptures are built through a bending of visual and sound data via generated and routed signals. This flux of data is sometimes paused in order to enable insight into the uncanny events of the digital and analog signals, and into the aesthetic of the corrupted data. The toy-like, soft, and plush sculptures from this series consist of several non-linear sound and video systems. They recode real situations into a broken data stream of glitch sounds. By touching and moving the stuffed toy-like objects, visitors create or affect the already existing sound. Objects are de-characterized by an absence of any facial features and by the uniformity of the black fleece texture they are made of. They are variable in terms of dimension, entirely hand-made and hand-sewn, stuffed with sanitary cotton, and contain various electronic components that generate sound and video output. The length and intensity of the tactile contact affect the produced sounds. The paradox of the interactivity of this series is explored by assigning almost indistinguishable sounds that become noise whenever there is an interaction with the sound sculptures. Close contact with the user is monitored by means of a real time video system that is routed through one of the toys containing a video camera that captures the signal from the space and sends it to a computer where it is processed and transmitted to the screen of another toy-object. Insight into the textures and landscapes of the toy micro-worlds is provided by means of a micro camera that captures the surfaces of the toy-like sculptures.
Tanja Vujinović
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Diskretno oscilirajoče igrače
(iz kataloga Extagram/Oscilo)
Diskretni dogodki v hrupnih domenah je okvir, v katerega so umeščeni različni dogodki in objekti, organizirani okrog paradigme hrupnih domen. Dogodki se ukvarjajo s fenomenološko diferenco med čistimi in hrupnimi signali. Extagram/Oscilo sestavlja multituda objektov, v katere so vgrajene elektronske komponente, ki zvočno in vizualno mapirajo konkretni prostor, v katerem se nahajajo. Ti objekti črpajo iz gostote hrupnih okolij, ki jih polnijo prenosi podatkovnih tokov. Kontaktni mikrofoni, senzorji in videokamere zbirajo različne zvočno-vizualne senzacije iz mreže frekvenc.
Interaktivne igrače in digitalizirani hišni ljubljenci, ki oponašajo emocije in razpoloženja, so zamišljeni in zasnovani za prodajo na globalnem trgu in za širok spekter potreb. O tem, da so v ta spekter vključene vse generacije uporabnikov, govori primer iz Japonske, kjer proizvajajo tudi interaktivne igrače, ki so namenjene starejšim ljudem. Te sintetične igrače imajo nalogo, da z zvokom izražajo ljubezen in s svojo prisotnostjo človeka potolažijo in pomirijo. Igrače različnih velikosti, oblik in materialov, ki gradirajo od plišastih in vinilnih likov žepne velikosti vse do imerzivnih prostorov velikih razsežnosti, ki jih je mogoče modularno nadgrajevati, reflektirajo potrebo po eskapizmu, udobju in ugodju, ki so še posebej prisotni v različnih oblikah fenomena kawaii, značilnega za tendenco v japonski kulturi, ki preferira prisrčnost in ljubkost, in vpliva na proizvajalce igrač povsod po svetu. V svojem znanem eseju o igračah je Roland Barthes zapisal, da odrasli otroke oskrbujejo z igračami, ki otrokom pomagajo ustvariti mikrosvetove, natančne in pomanjšane replike svetov odraslih. To so modularni "doppelgängerji", ki delujejo kot enote za gradnjo sintetičnih mikrosvetov, v katerih vladajo navidezna in preprosta interaktivnost, imitacija in fantazija. Vinilne akcijske figure iz popularnih televizijskih serij, kot so Zvezdne steze, ali pa Telebajski, liki iz popularnih risanih filmov, kot so Pokemoni, Pucca in slavni lik Hello Kitty, ki ga je zasnovala korporacija Sanrio, ter liki, kot so My Little Ponies, Pikačuji in Tamagočiji, se v ogromnih količinah, v nizu različnih dimenzij in izvedb proizvajajo in konzumirajo na globalni ravni. Skrita in nenavadna eksistenca lastnosti in funkcij omenjenih likov je poudarjena v njihovi nemoči, preprostosti, v tako imenovani interaktivnosti in v osebnem odnosu z lastnikom. Od predstavitve in proizvodnje prvih mehaničnih punčk in dekorativnih glasbenih skrinjic preko Edisonove invencije fonografskih punčk (Talking Dolls) do današnjih dni so igrače, ki producirajo zvok, ene izmed najbolj želenih in občudovanih proizvodov na trgu. Takšne igrače lahko proizvajajo onomatopoetske zvoke, zelo pogosto pa ob dotiku ali sprejemu zvočnega signala iz okolice 'izgovarjajo' lastno ime oziroma preproste fraze, ki so vezane na igro, ali pa vabijo k igri. Plišaste igrače s svojo amorfno, a obenem vedno jasno brendirano in nežno oblikovano površino nenehno vabijo k dotikanju. Zbirateljske serije figuric ob dotiku ali stisku proizvajajo preproste zvoke, da se jih tudi 'naučiti', da se odzivajo na določen način, skladno s predhodno posnetim zvočnim materialom.
Objekti iz serije Extagram/Oscilo utelešajo funkcije in značilnosti sodobnih igrač z neposredno in osebno participacijo, taktilnostjo, preprostostjo ljubkih oblik in konstrukcijo modularnih mikrosvetov, ki temeljijo na omejeni, predvsem na zvoku in taktilnosti zasnovani interaktivnosti. Skulpture Extagram/Oscilo temeljijo na prenosu podatkov v domeni zvoka in vizualnega. Podatkovni tokovi omogočajo vpogled v nenavadno strukturo digitalnih signalov. Kot igrače oblikovani, mehki plišasti objekti iz serije Extagram/Oscilo so sestavljeni tudi iz več različnih nelinearnih video- in zvočnih sistemov, ki rekodirajo dogodke v prostoru v podatkovne tokove avdio-vizualnega hrupa. S premikanjem in dotikanjem plišastih, igračam podobnih objektov lahko obiskovalci ustvarijo, ali pa vplivajo na že obstoječi zvok v prostoru. Objekti so razosebljeni zaradi odsotnosti obraznih karakteristik in uniformirani s teksturo črnega flisa, ki definira površino in formo objektov. Med seboj so si različni, ročno izdelani in polnjeni z bombažno sanitetno vato ter različnimi elektronskimi komponentami, ki generirajo avdio-vizualne izhodne signale. Dolžina in jakost taktilnega kontakta z objekti vpliva na izhodni zvočni signal, paradoks interaktivnosti v tej seriji objektov pa je v tem, da zvočni objekti proizvajajo med seboj težko ločljive zvoke. Kontakt obiskovalca z objekti se reproducira tudi z videosistemom, ki v realnem času zajema in računalniško procesira signal iz prostora ter ga vrača na zaslon, ki je vgrajen v enega od objektov. Vpogled v teksturo krajine mikrosvetov, ki jih tvorijo igrače, omogoča mikrovideokamera, ki zajema teksturo površine objektov.
Tanja Vujinović
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