Kathryn Barrett's Mouse Hack Final Project

Based on the quote by Andy Warhol: "In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes" I decided to emphasize the effect of time and the idea of fame. Using a 15 minute sand hour glass, I wanted to create an environment where someone had the ability to prove their identity to the world - coming into the whole thing completely unprepared. The idea that fame comes in all forms (talent, embarrassment, who you know, what you say, etc.) I had intended for people to choose their words, therefore grasping that they held complete control (opposed to doing something by accident and getting caught on film, for example). The hour glass proved to be a pressuring object; watching the sand quickly fall through and creating a "nail biting" experience.

For the actual installation, I wanted to have both physical and digital aspects. The hour glass sat on the table, and once flipped over, would start a video (via Processing) on one projector. On a second projector, and empty word processing document stayed open, allowing the person who flipped the hour glass, to begin typing anything that they thought would make them famous. Ideally, the person would be writing for 15 minutes (until the hour glass was empty). I was on the fence about whether or not to have the writing aspect public or not. I eventually decided to use the projection so everyone could see - since it best represented the quote and it would be interesting in a gallery full of strangers.

For the actual mouse hack, I used a mercury tilt switch to initiate the video via mouse click on Processing.

Here is the video it played:

Here is the setup of the two projections - The word processing document on the left, and the video playing at the same time (for the duration of the 15 minutes, and corresponding with the physical hour glass on the table) on the right.

If I were to improve this project, I would love for people to show their talents in more forms than just writing. It would be interesting to see what people decided to draw in 15 minutes, or offer to say in 15 minutes (a speech?). It would create a neat bond between complete strangers.