It lives!

The Fragmented Orchestra installation is now operational at FACT (above), opening for its 3-month tenure last Thursday. To accompany this, I have developed an interactive web interface to the live audio streams, with the intention of allowing the audience to treat the piece as an instrument in itself. By manipulating and navigating between the on-screen nodes, each of which corresponds to one of the 24 geographical sites, a user can create their own novel compositions using neuro-fragmented live sounds from around the UK.

This is my first major foray into ActionScript 3, and will undoubtedly be followed by many more -- it's a great language, and took me by surprise after some unpleasant formative experiences with Flash/AS many moons ago. It's also an ideal way to present interactive material to a wide audience, without the unpredictability and bloat of Java applets using Processing or whatnot.

I'm also in the process of writing a short paper on the methodologies and concepts behind the web design/interactivity, to appear imminently on the FO Architecture archive.

(Photography: Julia Hodgson)