Andy Bates

This project is a collaboration with Michael Smith

Planets was also made possible by the partnership between QUT Creative Industries (Brisbane, Australia) and Ars Electronica Futurelab (Linz, Austria).

Planets is a participatory, performance-based interactive artwork, which explores connections between people, places and objects. The work comprises of 30 interactive orbs, designed to respond via proximity to a central ‘master orb’, which is held by a contemporary dance performer while they move through a large crowd. Planets was designed to appropriate and activate event crowds and debuted within a crowd of over 1500 patrons at the 2014 Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria.

This work responded to the challenge of repurposing technology designed for a singular function and reimagining it in new and exciting ways. The technology in question, the Linzerschnitte microcontroller, is a low-cost FM receiver that can output a small current to control small electronic applications. The Linzerschnitte is at the technical heart of this project as it facilitates the relationship between performer and audience.

While Planets functions independently as a performative work, it is also the result of a pratice-based research project. This research investigated the concept of ‘exclusive experiences’ within interactive artworks, which can be understood as experiences that are transient, ephemeral and independent to a moment in time.