2x4 is part of an upcoming exhibition at the Centre for the Living Arts in Mobile, Alabama entitled the “Futures Project.” The exhibition features projects by visual artists and designers focusing on thematic ideas about the future. We were asked to consider this topic in relation to areas of communication, information, knowledge and wisdom. Our project, titled “Future Present,” explores the transient state of communications and the transformation of information from one source to another. Through digital, visual and sound interactions we explore the ways that communication inherently shifts and transforms through these processes.
“Future Present” uses a simple program to search real-time content online and capture conversations, posts and comments that mention the word “future”. The quoted text is then pulled through two different filters to create a sound piece and a poster as part of the installation. Visitors to the gallery can stand under large sound domes and listen to quotes vocalized by text-to-speech software in real time, as well as view a collection of posters generated from the same sources. A live blog will also post minute to minute text based entries, converting them into posters on-line. The posters will be printed once a day on-site in the gallery and mounted on the wall by CLA staff. The wall of posters will grow throughout the eight month span of the project to eventually fill a 50 foot long space in the gallery.
Via Centre For the Living Arts
