Creating a Crime Scene is the result of a year-long thesis investigation into the nature of human and digital design interaction. The resulting exploration looks at the creation of digital stains in physical space, as a way of challenging the mutual exclusivity of what we consider physical and digital.
How it Works
A screen based-interface controls images projected in three dimensions within the space itself. As the user interacts with the images on the screen, it affects the conditions of the chairs in real time.
Level 1: Creation
The first level of the game, creation, allows the user to select one of eight patterns to be applied to the chairs.
The patterns and interface draw inspiration from the original MacPaint patterns, evoking references to the beginnings of the graphic user interface, skeuomorphism, and translating the physical experience to digital.
Level 2: Destruction
The second level of the game focuses on destruction, allowing the user to select one of six tools to destroy the chairs with -- blood, wine, cigarette burn, fingerprints, water, and knife. The “stains” first appear lifelike, but slowly fade in pixelation -- highlighting the contrast between their physical presence and digital origin.
Exhibit Design
Creating a Crime Scene was created for the TELE / VISION thesis exhibition at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and was custom-designed for specifically for installation in the Sullivan Gallery Space. It used a Mac, an iPad, and two short-throw, 3-D mapped projectors to create the illusion of illuminated, customizable chairs -- which were upholstered in matte white projection-screen fabric.