Project 565:

silicat

author matmat

project date mars 2013

location Rennes, France

A/V performance with kinect
better than explanations watch the videos…

thanks to diablodale for his great object…

How was MAX used?

entirely built in MAX

Do you remember the first Max patch you ever made? What was it?

My first patch was to send program change to an Enventide H3000 in order to transform the voice, using a "métaInstrument"... a long time ago.

How did you come up with this project idea?

The first idea was to create a digital character. I'm a shy person so playing with these virtual characters was the best way to hide myself. In this project these characters could interact with their virtual environment. The most important thing to me is to create a poetic universe with a red thread, like an imaginary story.

I made a prototype some years ago with "box2d" for Max. With Max 6 all my ideas that I had for a very long time have become more easily achievable. It's a real chance. The physics engine in Max 6 has greatly simplified the development; filtering data, spatial tracking, autonomous mechanisms, interaction... so many things are now possible in Max with these tools.

What sorts of problems did you have to solve?

Since this was a personal project and I was not pressed for time, when I was confronting technical problems for which I lacked the knowledge, I took different paths that allowed myself to discover unexpected things. I discovered different images and sounds gradually.

If there were one person who you would want to see your project, who would it be?

Maybe Alexander Calder but unfortunately...

At the conclusion of this project were you: a) exhausted b) ready to do a new one c) thinking of ways to expand it d) [other, please describe]

Thinking of ways to expand the project. I am looking for some residencies to work in a place more suitable than my home. Even more, this project must be played on stage to acquire experience. In the future, I would like to work with a dancer in order to maximize the body's expressive vocabulary and working relationship between the real/unreal and inside/outside.