Hello. This is Matthew Irvine Brown's portfolio.
email matthew@irvinebrown.com
Insyde
September 2006
Interactive installation for Airside. A kind of Lemon Jelly-ish chillout room, it is a reactive, animated onscreen magic forest inside a huge wooden crate, with typically quirky characters, music and sound effects triggered by visitors as they walk around inside.
I wired up the MIDI hardware and built the basic software engine in Max/MSP alongside Guy Moorhouse (Flash programming) and Kwok Fung Lam (animation), with character design and direction from the rest of the Airside crew. The music and sound effects were composed by Fred Deakin (one half of Lemon Jelly and Airside head boy).
The installation uses basic infra-red sensors to trigger sound and visuals: as people 'step into the light' (indicated by visuals projected on to the floor), the musical score evolves, various effects and loops come in and out, and onscreen animals start to sing and dance about (I used the excellent Flashserver external to get Max/MSP to talk to Flash).
The view from the Walker Gallery
Little creatures live inside peepholes
The view from the entrance
IR sensors above the floor, projections below
Stepping into the light brings the forest alive
Move around and they follow you, jumping out of holes
These guys run away if you go near them
Airside movies:
promo (12.4mb) and short making-of (29.3mb)
Building the prototype in Max/MSP
Testing the sensors overhead
Setting up the back projection screen
The screen finally fitted
Wiring up the ceiling sensors
Insyde was commissioned as part of the 2006 Liverpool Biennial and was on exhibit at the Walker Gallery from September 2006 until February 2007.
Read the press release here.