Monday, May 2, 2011

Chloe M's Mouse Hack

My mouse hack concept was based on nostalgia and fleeting moments, the way humans are fixated on capturing events and feelings via a lens. I chose to approach this using the notion of light seeing as film is exposed using light and has the images taken by the photographer are 'revealed' in darkness. For this reason I chose to use a light sensitive resistor as my button in my mouse. I put the resistor inside in an old video cassette (again emphasizing the feeling of nostalgia) and when the light is blocked the projected image is a compilation of home movies from the 70's. When the light hits the sensor, the projection is of a blank exposed film reel.

The reason I chose to use older footage I found online for the home movies was because I wanted something reminiscent. I especially like super 8 film because it has a very warm feel to it which is what I wanted to get across, a sense of longing for 'simpler days'. The song choice was also to emphasize the feeling.

Here is a video of my mouse hack in action;

If I were to improve my mouse hack, I would obviously like to make the installation and mouse casing more attractive. I'd also like to have more negatives and have them control the video playing on the screen, so for example the video on the screen would correspond to the captured negative being held to the light and the default setting of the projection would be the blank reel. It would also be interesting to play with my own home videos and make the piece more personal...

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