Galaxy
Summary
Galaxy is a web project made in 2003 by artist Tony Martin. The piece was commissioned by Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) and was partly funded by a Cultural Challenge grant from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Galaxy was part of EAI's Artists' Web Projects Launch to "explore the potential of interactive media as a vehicle for creative practice and cultural discourse"[1]. The black and white web-based artwork focuses on the uses of light and sound. Tony Martin brings elements of his past interactive installation works into this piece, making it almost like a "cyber sculpture"[2].
Galaxy begins with a silent, static page set on a pure black background. An almost circular shape of seemingly random lines sits in the middle of the page with a simple "START" button off to the bottom-right side of it. The piece calls for user interaction, which begins as soon as the button is clicked. The once-static image will begin to change, fading in and out between different images of the grainy lines, scratches, and smudges. A slow, eerie sound plays on repeat as the images continue to change in seemingly no particular order. The piece, with its dark and colourless visuals and haunting music, invites the user to participate in the creation of this galaxy.
Interactivity
Exploring user interactivity serves as the main purpose for this web project. After initiating the start of the piece, Galaxy is void of any interactive areas using the mouse. However, users are able to influence both the visual and audio aspects of the project using the keyboard. By pressing any of the eight keys from A to K across a standard computer keyboard, designated images and sounds are added on top of the flowing event. For example, if the user presses the letter F, the original flow of images continue to play in the background as a new image, a smaller piece of a line drawing, appears for a few seconds in the foreground at the same time as a short, sharp sound plays in sync with it. Each key will result in a different image and sound pair, varying in light intensity, placement, and motion[3]. It is up to the user to decide which key to click to change the feeling of the work. Galaxy is a piece that cannot be complete without the unique set of user interactions that gives it a different characteristic with each viewing.
Exhibition Techniques
Galaxy is an online piece that is open for public viewing through the EAI website. Such an interactive piece works well in an exhibition online, giving users freedom to influence it at the ease of a keystroke in the comfort of their own homes. The ease of access allows for more viewers and ultimately more points of influence to the development of the project. As anyone in the world can have access to this art piece, it is definite that Tony Martin took advantage of this exhibition technique to progress the project and kept his audience in mind. For example, language barriers are a common problem faced with creating a web-based work. Aside from the word "START", no other text appears in the project. The use of only visual images and audio gives Galaxy enough emotion without having to deal with language.
Subject Matter
The interactivity and exhibition techniques both tie into the underlying subject matter of the project. Galaxy is named as such because the accumulation of each user's actions come together to form the final product that is made possible with the internet. The ability to influence this "galaxy" causes users to not only become a part in the art-making, but also to think carefully about virtual and shared space. It is true that each keystroke only changes the piece virtually, but as a web-based artwork, each action causes a unique change to it that cannot be possible without the individual users. Elements of real-time happenings are merged with that of the remembered time, and the synthesis creates a shared human galaxy[4].
References
Author
Kathy Li, 2014