‘Bindings’ is a large, site-specific public rear-projection display for a public library in Bergen, Norway. It is around 3m high by 9m long. Designed, created, and installed by digital artists Alinta Krauth and Jason Nelson. The purpose of this installation is to find new ways of activating public spaces through digital art, and to use the idea of a library as a space for public reading and learning in the artwork itself to create an animated digital story. The other purpose of ‘Bindings’ was to use old, unused, or recycled technologies and materials. In this case, all equipment and materials used were recycled and restored to OH&S standards. As many of these technologies were found within the library already (stacked away in storage, for instance), this showed the potential for any library to have its own activated digital space with minimal budget required. All you need is the right artist who knows how to set it up for you! As the artwork would then predominantly be controlled and looked after by librarians, it also had to be a simple set up that was easy to access and trouble-shoot, so ‘Bindings’ also shows how one can create an effective looking digital display that is technologically simple.
The above video shows the split use of the space as a ‘digital storybook’, with animation artwork and writing by Alinta Krauth.
The above video shows the use of the two screens to create a kaleidoscopic feel using wireframe content by Alinta Krauth.
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The above video shows that the display is actually two sides of a cube. In this version, the entire installation is moved to the other side of the cube (another roughly 3m by 9m space), in order to project outside. thus, we activated the building for both inside viewers during the day and outside passers-by in the evenings. While there were two layers of glass to get through, it was still effective once darkness fell. I would have liked to cover the entire 3m by 18m space at the same time, but as we were using recycled technologies, there simply wasn’t enough to go around.