Mari Velonaki

Diamandini

mari — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:52:29 +0000

Diamandini is an interactive robotic artwork. She is 155cm high, unrealistically slender, youthful in appearance although her exact age is uncertain—she could be between 18 and 30 years old. Diamandini’s look derives from of an amalgamation of elements of classical sculpture with futuristic undertones. She is entirely made of a homogeneous porcelain-like material that makes her look more like a floating figurine than a robot. Spectators can enter the installation space where Diamandini is moving about in a smooth, choreographed manner. Her movement is accompanied by soundscapes generated from within her. When a spectator approaches her, she responds physically by turning towards the person and gently moving closer to them or by avoiding the person and floating in the opposite direction. The dialogical approach taken in this project between the audience and Diamandini is that of physically sharing and negotiating the gallery space.

Current State of Affairs

mari — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 04:43:33 +0000

A work about a symbiotic relationship between heterogeneous elements, which is a recurrent theme in my work.

A copper structure that houses a full-length mirror is placed against a gallery wall. A row of six round incandescent globes crown the top of the mirror. The globes are brightly lit. As a spectator approaches the mirror for a closer look, s/he sees drops and rivulets of water trickling down from the electrified globes, with droplets falling to the surface of a water-filled tank embedded in the base of the copper structure. The droplets generate a continuous and ever-changing soundscape as they fall and splash into the water. Metallic resonances ring throughout the space in counterpoint with ‘bassy’ undertones, renewed with every droplet. By extending their hands, visitors can catch lukewarm droplets landing on their palms—at the same time they actively influence and can even still the soundscape.

Circle E: Fragile Balances

mari — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:25:48 +0000

A wooden table-like object is placed opposite the Circle D: Fragile Balances work in the exhibition space. The object is made of has the same finish as the base from Circle D: Fragile Balances.

On the top of the ‘table’ sits a notepad and a pencil. A rotating brass drum is partially sunk into the table. Members of the audience are encouraged to write intimate notes for their loved ones and donate them to the project by feeding them through a slot into the drum when it pauses momentarily. All the intimate letters are scanned and, at a later stage, added as text to the dialogues between the Fish-Bird robot and the interactive cubes of Circle D: Fragile Balances.

In my mind this work closes the loop by allowing the audience to become participants by writing love letters intended either for their loved ones or for the Fish and Bird characters.

Fish-Bird Circle B — Movement B

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:59:53 +0000

Fish-Bird Circle B – Movement B is an interactive installation that explores dialogical possibilities between two robots and their audience. The robotic objects are disguised as wheelchairs that impersonate two characters, Fish and Bird that they fall in love but due to ‘technical’ difficulties can not be together. Fish and Bird communicate intimately with one another, and with their visitors, via movement and text.

Fish and Bird learn the behaviour of audience participants, and reason independently to decide their actions. Their distinct personalities are expressed by their reactions to the audience.

The work employs a distributed and decentralised network of sensors to monitor the ‘body language’ of the wheelchairs and participants. Information is communicated wirelessly using the ‘WiFi’ and ‘Bluetooth’ standards. From frame and electronics to software, the robots are completely custom designed, engineered and built by the team.

Embracement

mari — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:08:41 +0000

Embracement is a light reactive installation. The work explores perception and interpretation of interpersonal interaction, through the device of optical illusion. Within a photo-dynamic crystal screen, fleeting image sequences of two women appear. All sequences commence with the women standing, facing each other, and with the younger woman striding towards the elder one. Subsequent interactions between the characters are placed ambiguously between affection and violent rejection.The nature of the relationship remains unresolved to the viewer as the projected image is interrupted by a shutter. The viewer is left with ephemeral glowing red afterimages of the women. This transient memory of the screen is due to the physics of the crystals, which absorb light and re-emit it at red wavelengths. This is not a software (e.g. Photoshop) effect, but a consequence of physical photoluminescence. Projection of images under computer control allows for indefinite variation in the repeating image sequences.

Throw

mari — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:30:18 +0000

In Throw two projected characters (a male and female) become moving targets as the audience is invited to throw soft satin balls aiming at them. The participants gradually discover that what had seemed at first like an easy task is rather challenging since the characters’ ‘vision’ is faster than human. On the rare occasion of hitting the ‘target’ it becomes dismorphed. The velocity of the hit determines the level of the disfigurement.

Throw is an interactive installation that aims to investigate the dialogical possibilities between the audience and digital characters in relation to current cultural and technological developments. It utilises soft satin balls as an interface and the act of throwing as means to interaction. Charged with fun-fair flair and structured as a game, it provokes the secrecy of the spectacle.

Fish-Bird Circle A

laudanum — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:41:58 +0000

This is the first work that i’ve made to introduce my imaginary Fish-Bird characters and was my trigger point for the Fish-Bird series ( 2003-2009).

Pin Cushion

laudanum — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:42:23 +0000

In Pin Cushion (2000), a female character is projected onto a latex cushion. Large acupuncture needles are embedded into the character’s face. When the viewer touches the needles, the projected woman responds and devolves. The range at which the image changes, and the instantaneous morphology that the degrading image assumes, depend on physiological properties of the viewer: surface electrical conductivity, resistance to electrical currents, and the latent charge of the viewer’s own body. The digital character’s lifespan and well-being are dictated by the collective intentions of the viewers/participants over the exhibition period. I always thought of Pin Cushion, as a work which explores elements of tactile desire, manipulation, violence and identification. Participants decide whether to control or abstain from manipulating a projected character, which puts them in a position of control over the artwork.

Unstill Life

mari — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:24:42 +0000

A woman’s digital portrait alters depending on how her visitors interact with the apples placed on offer in the installation space.

The portrait observes and responds to her visitors in various ways. If a visitor eats the apple, the portrait alters and gains digital weight, in proportion to the number of bites taken; if the visitor abstains, the portrait alters in other ways and eventually vanishes; and if the portrait receives insufficient attention (time spent, apple interactions) over an installation time of several months, animation frames are deleted and the portrait gradually decays.

Red Armchair 4

mari — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:25:49 +0000

A spectator walks into a room to witness a projected image of a woman’s back seated on a red armchair. An identical chair is placed in the middle of the room where the spectator can sit facing the the back of the projected woman. On the floor there is a lightbox printed with the “command” words:

DECAYCONSUMETALKDANCESHRINKAWAKELOOKDIE

A microphone adjacent to the spectator’s chair enables him/her to talk to the woman on the screen by forming sentences that will include the “command” words chosen at random. For example: “Talk to me” or “Die for me”.

This is my early Dadaist approach towards interactivity: regardless of how hard the spectator tries to communicate/activate the woman, she responds in mundane ways never revealing her face to the spectator.