In "inter / face" I continue my exploration of the relationship between the abstract world of language and the physical world of body. The work uses the expressions on the viewer's face as an interface to a responsive virtual world built using the structures of the letters of the alphabet and the textures of the human body.
Each of the 26 letters of the alphabet are rendered in uppercase Helvetica. These outlines are used as the floorplans for architectural spaces. The surfaces of these spaces are mapped with very high resolution photographic textures of human skin. The surfaces of these letter spaces are articulated so that they can flex and bend in complex and fluid ways. At any give time, the viewer is positioned within one of these letter spaces, experiencing the interior space of that letter. Subtle movements of the viewer's face cause these surfaces to flex and bend, deforming the space quite radically and responsively. If the facial gestures get too agitated, the letter space drifts away and joins the other 25 letters in a fluid swarm of letters. Eventually a new letter drifts in to enclose the viewer's point of view.

Copyright 2002 David Rokeby / very nervous systems / All rights reserved. 10/24/02