Abstract

Under the theme of Ludic Interfaces and the category of artist presentations, I would like to present the work and research of The Institute of Everyday Life. The Institute of Everyday Life (IEL) is an umbrella for a range of activities that take place in my studio/laboratory at Hexagram Media Arts Institute in Montreal, Quebec.

These projects include hermit-crabs that fly around Second Life (Digital Crustaceans: Homesteading on the WWW), animatronic second hand shoes that tap dance of their own accord (Symphony for 54 Shoes), and giant knitting needles (Knit One, Swim2) that act as an interface for video images.

These projects continue my exploration of non-screen based computer technology to create works that interact with, confront and/or incorporate the physical world. I try to bring the complexity of the real world and experience into the digital experience, to complicate the relations between the virtual and material realms, to create works that situate themselves in the world in rich sensory, tactile and sonic ways.

I work within existing systems and sites. These can be physical sites or sites within existing technologies and machines, computer code, systems of exchange, as well as discarded goods and material objects. My aims are to work critically within theses sites and systems of exchange and to see how media arts can participate in the larger debates of our time.

I am interested in the idea of tender, even pathetic, technology, to use technology for ends that are not necessarily productive in the usual sense of the word.

Ingrid Bachmann Biography

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