Interactive Media Installation
Exhibited at the Venice Biennale 2021

Alex Wenger, Anna-Lina Helsen, Kimin Han, Christina Vinke

Exploring a space somewhere between dreams and reality, users could playfully explore movement as interaction with a techno-natural lifeform in a surreal setting.

The installation Between Dreams and Reality shows the hybrid world of humanity and machines. It plays with interpretation of the real and surreal, conscious and subconscious, dystopias and utopias.

At the centre of the installation is the Dream Machine. Referencing the interplay between conscious and sub- or unconsciousness, similar to the Dream Machine from the Beatnik movement in the 1960s, this 2024 version highlights the interplay between people and their surroundings.

Viewers can strike different poses, which are detected via a RaspberryPi camera (using the Python library “MediaPipe” and “OpenCV”). The rotating 3D coral at the centre of the Dream Machine is influenced by the pose of the viewer. The more room they occupy and the larger they make themselves, the more arms of the coral will wither. The connection between the pose detection and the trigger of the various coral animations, created and rigged in Blender by me, are brought together in the open source game engine Godot, which was implemented by Kai-Uwe Hermann.

The concept of the scenographic surrounding focuses on creating a dream-like environment and a mindful use of resources, created together with the artist Desirée Eppele, who also created the mural- like painting on the wall of the room and the chrome branches hanging off the ceiling and creating a techno-natural reference to the site’s history of the Hoepfner Stiftung - a pub called The Green Tree.

The materials used in this installation are natural materials where possible otherwise were sourced second hand, out of disposal sites or repurposed. The large fabric banners creating the cave-like appearance are nettle fabric which we dyed using traditional dyeing methods and natural dyes such as madder root, mallow flowers, beetroot, cabbage and turmeric.

Soundtracks created for the installation were cast using exciter speakers and can be found on the Soundcloud website here: SOUNDCLOUD

Kindly supported by the UNESCO City of Media Arts Karlsruhe with the “Project Funding for Media Arts 2023” and exhibited at Media Art is Here 2024. Many thanks also the Hoepfner Stiftung for supporting this project and donating their fantastic and brand-new exhibition space at Studio Hö!