Meatbook
Interactive Installation (2005-2006)
Artists: Diane Gromala, Aaron Levisohn, Jinsil Seo
MEAKBOOK, an interactive art installation, explores the use of an unconventional tangible interface to provoke a visceral response in the viewer. Through the use of meat as a reactive surface, users are able to interact with an animated piece of flesh. The Meatbook presents the symbiosis of the mechanical and the organic as it simultaneously juxtaposes
the conflicting materiality of these media.
The Book
The Meatbook is made from various types of meat sewn together following traditional bookbinding procedures. Unlike paper books, The Meatbook contains four pages that are always open. It sits upon a traditional book pedestal, and users can approach it from any side.
Interaction
The Meatbook uses sensors to determine the location of the user. It provides feedback based on the proximal distance of the viewer to the book – the book “quivers†as users approach. In addition, the location and numbers of users are measured to elicit various additional movements: sounds, twitching, pulsing, throbbing, stretching and gyrating.
Technique
Sensors, motors and other mechanics are used to animate the meat, generating movements specifically designed to produce visceral, even cathartic responses from the user.
Video
TEI 2006
Videos
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