The Piece
L’entre-deux (in-between) is an interactive video installation conceived by Aylin Kalem, co-designed with Denis Juge and programmed by Anne Prugnon.
Programme Note
There are two sets of short videos on the projection –one on various parts and organs of the body, and the other on various types of mechanical tools and objects. These two types of videos are presented side by side in two separate windows. Although the intention is not to offer direct similarities between the body films and the object films, the viewer may note some resemblances between the movements, forms, colours and textures of the two windows on the projection. The selection of the videos is done by the computer on a random basis within a certain limited possibilities. However, the user may interact by using the mouse and have a certain effect on the randomness of the selection.
Operation
The installation operates on a CD-Rom programmed with Director 8,5 and consists of digitally formatted film. The CD-Rom may run and operate on a limited randomness in relation to interactivity between the two sets of films. The system is also open to the interference of the user of the mouse which affects the system and thus, the selection of the films.
The Concept
This installation is based on the body-machine relationship. This relation is re-visited in a contemporary fashion with the introduction of the ‘cyborg’ phenomena although it has been one of the primary concerns of the humanity since its birth. Human kind used various tools in order to survive and is transformed by using them and is evolved into the following centuries. These tools served as prostheses or extensions of the body, augmented the capacities of the body and thus provided an altered perception of the world. The body is constantly experiencing a particular corporeality within the human-machine interaction.
This work is just a simple suggestion of a personal contemplation of the body in a more or less voyeuristic fashion. The viewer may also control the videos by using the mouse, forwarding or rewinding, accelerating or slowing down the film of the body, thus having a certain control of the movement. The possibility to control the videos of the body is a kind of an invitation to identify oneself with the body on the screen displayed side by side with the films of the tools. The focus is concentrated on the minimal, uncontrolled and involuntary movements of the body proposing a tension caused by the body’s continuous re-adjustment so as to emphasize the vulnerability but also the adaptability of the flesh. In some of the shots the skin and the bones are traversing the camera, getting in and out of the frame, appearing and disappearing, playing with ideas of presence and absence, thus leaving its memory behind, by the act of comparing, on the images of the tools.
Presented at:
"Beden-ek" / Kargart, Istanbul, 17-29 March 07
"Sinopale" / Contemporary Art Biennial, Sinop, Aug. 06
"TECHNE 06" / International Istanbul Digital Performance Platform, Istanbul, 17-22 Apr. 06
"METU Dance Festival" / Ankara, March 04
"3rd Performance Days" / dags+ & Bilgi Univ., Istanbul, June 03
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