Ribbons

Ribbons is a real-time visual instrument created for maximizing the expressiveness of the performer within its aesthetic paradigm. Its design questions the basic assumption of a flat rectangle as image space by presenting a virtual three-dimensional space where the footage can be projected and deconstructed, thus adding a new dimension of expressiveness orthogonal to traditional narrative.

I worked with the following design axes: playability vs. autonomy, and expressiveness vs. narrative, aiming at creating a unique expressive instrument that allows its user to navigate the cinematic space.

The following images show captures of Ribbons's output, with a few photos of myself performing with it.

The following sequence shows the video being deconstructed, with each voxel acquiring a new expressive power:

The 2009 paper Ribbons, a live cinema instrument, presented at ISEA in Belfast, describes the design process and the instrument's usage. Ribbons was programmed with OpenFrameworks and its source code is available upon request.