The Artist As Queer Woman (2015)

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An interactive, networked video artwork using sensor data to explore the politics of self-representation.

TAAQW, or The Artist as Queer Woman (2015), is a multimedia installation that utilizes interactive, sensor-mapped video to explore and communicate the politics of self-imaging and representation for queer women as artists and visual subjects. The piece uses a hidden infrared distance sensor to obtain analog data about where participants are in the exhibition space, as well as a live webcam feed using openCV to ‘count’ the number of participants interacting with the artwork at any given time. An openFrameworks program receives the sensor data and obtains the number of participants, then sends both numbers via Open Sound Control to a closed wifi network. The monitors displaying the videos are powered by individual Raspberry Pis running openFrameworks programs. The timecode of the looped videos is affected by the values the programs receive while connected to the wifi network. The modification of the video playback causes the viewer to perceive the gaze of the self-portraits as ‘following’ them across the space. 

The artist in a white shirt on a blue painted background, looking at the viewer.
The artist viewed from the left side, wearing black lace and wiping her lip on her fingers, on a red background.
The artist wearing a button down shirt and looking down on a dark background.
The artist smiling and making eye contact while holding her laptop on a dark background.
The gallery space with four screens and descriptive text on a white wall.
TAAQW (2015), installed at Goldsmiths, University of London during EXCEPT/ON MA/MFA Computational Arts Exhibition, 10-14 September 2015.

Further Information

  • The source code for the openFrameworks (C++) programs running on both the laptop and the Raspberry Pis are available via Dropbox.
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