Colony ::: iPhone—how to play.
Over the past two decades interactive art has developed its own particular language and aesthetics. This counteracts many of the more popular forms of interaction common in digital entertainment that are typically predictable or tied to binary operations of on or off; true or false. In contrast, more contemplative forms of interaction are desirable; unpredictable zones of interaction that comprise a balance between environments that are responsive and consistent but rather change or alter their behaviour.
This colony needs people, the more people the better. For the colony to reach its maximum level of energy it requires human presence to stimulate it into action. In this way, the community that resides in Life.lab become a part of it via a symbiotic relationship—the colony receives energy from humans, the humans receive an aesthetic experience in return. There are three levels of interaction within the colony: firstly, the autonomous interaction that the totems have with themselves via the meshwork; secondly, the stimulus received from human motion sensed within the space; and thirdly, via the direct input received from an iPhone (or iPod touch). This third form of interaction allows the play of individual totems as audiovisual instruments; directly triggering light and sound events, and in turn feeding energy into the system. Thirty-six people, each with an iPhone, may play the colony as an electronic light and sound orchestra.
Download the free Colony iPhone app to play.
Goto Digital Harbour in the Melbourne Docklands.
Then…
[1]::: Start the iPhone app and select your location within the Colony.
[2]::: Select the totem you wish to play. Decode the glyphs on the totem and match them in the iPhone app. Alternately, tap the orange, blue or green totem buttons onscreen to see the totems in the garden change colour and make sounds. Follow the sounds until you find your totem…
[3]::: Tap the screen while green to feed your totem green energy. This will play melodic tones that alter their pitch and timbre based on where you tap the iPhone screen. Play some recognisable tunes or make up your own.
[4]::: Rotate your iPhone to make it turn orange. Now tapping the screen will trigger droning ambient tones…
[5]::: Turn it over once again. Now tapping the screen turns your totem blue. Sonically, it functions like a drumpad with four different sounds…
Playing on your own is fun, but join the facebook group to receive announcements on multiplayer events later this year.