Device: Cathode ray television and VHS videorecorder

Description: Prototype for a film that controls its own narrative

Video length: 50"

 

Year: 2003

Materials: Televison, electric wire, 2 suction cup

Electronics: 2 Photoresistor

Programming: None

Dimensions: 65x70x120 cm
Power: 220v mains

 

"I wanted to create interactive electronic objects, but I had a lot of coding limitations. I still have them; I come from a sociology background. But then I started to experiment with low-tech electronics and the concept of control. For example I was obsessed with the film "Alphaville" from Jean-Luc Godard. In this film a computer and a mad scientist start to take control of all Paris citizens, removing their ability to love each other. This film is a classic of control and film noir. I designed a remote control that is only controlled by the film. With simple electronics, I hard-wired a light sensor directly to the fast forward button of the remote control. Then I attached the light sensor to the TV screen with a suction cup. When there is light on the screen, the film itself presses the button and fast-forwards to the next scene. As a result, the viewer is only allowed to watch the dark parts of the film, the Film Noir. "Self-Control" was my first augmented device.—a film with the ability to control the TV remote" Gizmodo interview 2005