Catodo

I believe that code is poetry and I express myself with it

Condizione Umana

Condizione Umana is an interactive installation designed with Valentina Peter (a.k.a. Effemeride), an Italian artist that works with books and papers. The artwork wants to be a reflection on the human condition (condizione umana in Italian). We used an Italian book of 1920 and a pair of windows from a house in Turin from the same era.

We selected 8 pages from the book and extracted 8 sentences that represent a human condition. Each sentence has been converted in speech, using a female and a male voices. Each sound sample has been divided in sub-samples and stored in a Rasperry Pi computer. Usign a custom software, the computer select a page from the book and read a random phrase from the collection of samples. The result is a endless dialogue between woman and man. When the computer selects a page it also turns on a LED, located under the page to give a visual feedback to the visitors. The interaction part is made using a PIR motion sensor that turns on the computer algorithm when a visitor approaches the installation.

The source code of the custom software is available here.

Materials: Paper, wood, Rasperry Pi computer, custom software, LED, PIR motion sensor, sound speakers.