Hourface

Hourface is a Processing based Java software project intended for use as an interactive video art installation. It was created in collaboration with Yoko Takashima for a show called Blend at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Hourface displays two movies inside an hourglass shape; one of Yoko singing “Fly Me To The Moon”, the other of her daughter singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. Each pixel of the movies acts as a grain of sand, flowing between the two halves of the hourglass. The orientation of the hourglass can be controlled with a custom-made hourglass controller (we used a large wooden with the top half painted bright orange and the bottom half painted bright green) and a Logitech® QuickCam® Pro 9000 webcam. As you turn the hourglass it creates the sounds of the sand moving and adjusts the volume and position of the movie sounds (Yoko and her daughter singing) so that Yoko’s singing comes from the direction corresponding to where her face is in the hourglass. The soundscape also changes based on the state of the hourglass and the input from the controller.

Media

This video gives a brief demonstration of version 1.0 of Hourface that was shown publicly at the AGGV. (Sadly the audio quality and sync are really bad.)

This video shows the progression of the digital sand as it was developed:

Installation

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria: September 26, 2008 to January 11, 2009 In collaboration with: Yoko Takashima