Interactive Poetry Installations (2021)
These two pieces were a collaboration with writer Charlotte Wetton, and were commisioned by Future Everything and The Writing Squad for Manchester City of Literature’s Festival of Libraries.
Charlotte wrote two poems celebrating the role of libraries and librarians, and I realised these poems as interactive installations.
I created some software that would track the movements of passers-by using an infrared camera, and reshape the poem into the shape of their movements.
I created some software that would track the movements of passers-by using an infrared camera, and reshape the poem into the shape of their movements.
We were very lucky to have both poems hosted in the windows of Manchester Central Library.
Autodidact
This poem was a tribute to the many many people who teach themselves new skills in libraries, and the libraries that allow this to happen. This poem took input from a Kinect camera and reformed the poem to fit the shape of whoever is reading it.
The Librarian Conducts A Reference Interview
This poem told the story of a young library patron being guided towards a book that might suit their purposes by a librarian in a dramatic fashion.
As people, trams, and animals moved by, a camera tracked their motion and used this movement to ‘push’ the lines to the left and right.