Title/Date: Dusty Dogs (2019)

Author(s): Sophie Reid-Singer & Joseph Burgess.

Place of Publication: Frequencies TV (Brisbane).

Format: Dynamic (2) interactive projection artwork (multiplayer videogame).

Statement:

Dusty Dogs (2019) was developed for the EP Launch of Unregistered Master Builder (the music project of Joseph Burgess) at Frequencies TV (a recording studio with a live-stream emphasis for musicians). Pictured below are both elements, which were projected separately onto two large metal ‘sound-dishes’ crafted by Burgess. The first design is of a digital Pitbull Skull, and the second of a beating cyborg heart. The textures are from the EP album cover, which depicts a torn print of a $5 Australian note.

Findings:

Imagery of cyborgs in this videogame did not emancipate disabled peoples from the strict legal conditions imposed by the Australian Government, but it had not set out with such aim. In place of a political agenda, the aim was to join in the celebration of making and the life-affirming community of music.

However, I continued exploring the TTA glitch here, which appears as a purple stippling effect. This was one of my early attempts to use spectrum data from a live audio stream (using a microphone) to modulate my animations and a first attempt at a dual projection composition. This was an experiment in “indirect interaction”. I wrote a code that modulated the scale of the dogs (chattering) teeth and simulated a beating heart in time with Joseph’s performance at Frequencies TV (using a Fast Frontier Transform). This was an important step towards Muliebrity [i].

Dev Journal:

I made this design after Burgess visited me in my share-house in Alderley, where I lived with two big staffies. He bought along a Eurorack modular device and performed briefly for me and the dogs under the house in my very dusty studio (we had no lawn and the dogs tore up the backyard) while I projected onto a white picket fence with a composition I had been developing using the TAA glitch. Later I purchased the first case Joseph had hand-built with wood for himself which is currently housing my own Eurorack rig.