DUST (A year of Dust) / 2016

The work Dust combines generative HD video with the movement of the audience through camera tracking. For several months I have been collecting dust particles on a piece of black Plexiglas. Each month I photograph the collected set, clean the surface, and start the process from the beginning. The composition and amount of dust depends on the movement around its location and other random occurrences. Using one of the photographed sets, I traced it in a graphics program. The resulting graphic particles are now animated in the generative video software VVVV. A Kinect 3D camera tracks movement in front of the video projection. When someone approaches the projection, the dust speeds up and flies in all directions, triggered by the viewer’s movement.

The movement of the pixel dust, while seemingly random, is based on close observations of real dust in flight. A complex force field emulates the forces that exist in real life. The composition is never the same, it happens in real time and by chance – it is a generative chaos. The movement of the observer is interpreted as an artificial wind source. We humans disturb the dust and make it fly faster. We are a source of wind and movement. Our bodies are now part of a random digital artifact, but with roots in real events.

DUST / interactive video projection / 2015 

DUST / interactive video projection / 2015

“Dust” and “Error 404 502 410” / B-Side Festival Mannheim / 2017

“Dust” /  screen capture / 2015

The second part of the project are paintings: the photographed dust is painted on canvas and becomes the name of the month – every month one painting. It was a year of dust.

DUST November – December/ acrylic on canvas, 150 x 180 cm / 2015