In The Air
Adam Carlucci
In The Air is an environment that consists of interactive radios arranged in a semi-circle. Each radio is tuned to a different station, and all of the radios broadcast simultaneously. When a user engages the installation their presence begins to influence the radios' behaviour. Their influence may drive the radios into chaos, or focus them into unity.
The resulting sound-scape reflects the user's desire to extract detail when presented with an overabundance of information. Users who act erratically are presented with a deluge of fragmented media, whereas a methodical user is rewarded with a clear, uninterrupted broadcast. This reflection holds true with multiple users as well. In this case, a degree of coordination is required between users in order to achieve a state of clarity.
In The Air concerns itself primarily with the behaviour of any users contained within its environment; the radios' output is directly related to the behaviour it detects.
With In The Air, I am depicting a method of information consumption that I find myself engaging in with increased regularity. Specifically I'm focusing on consumption for the sake of itself, with little interest in actual content. The question I am asking is; does this behaviour have a detrimental effect, or is it actually beneficial? I cannot deny that it has greatly extended the breadth of my knowledge base; however this breadth appears to come at the expense of depth.
In The Air is a representation of this shallow information consuming behaviour. Users who give undirected attention to the space are presented with an overwhelming amount of fragmented media; enough to get a sense of the content, but not to truly comprehend it. A patient user, however, will be provided with a single uninterrupted source. The erratic user will receive a wider array of media, whereas the patient user will receive a much more complete representation of a single idea.