Multimedia Installation - May 2025
OVERVIEW
Created for (Against) Transience, the first exhibition of Trinity College Dublin’s M.Phil in Digital Arts and Intermedia Practices. Rock Music explores the themes of transience, memory, and decay.
Rubble collected from around the exhibition site becomes a tool for user agency. As the rocks are shifted, the audiovisual landscape transforms in real-time, echoing their presence back into the room. An accompanying speculative documentary gives context to the work’s interactivity and what it means to build community in a site destined for destruction. Through its various elements, Rock Music communicates the complexities of our relationships with places that are meaningful, but fleeting.
PROJECT TEAM
Kev Freeney - Creative Direction & Technology
Sneha Joshi - Creative Direction, Cinematography, Script Writing, Editing
Sylvie Tang - Cinematography & Editing
Sarah Edwards - Script Writing, Editing, Project Management & Documentation
Wenhao Shen - Graphic Design
Sneha Joshi - Creative Direction, Cinematography, Script Writing, Editing
Sylvie Tang - Cinematography & Editing
Sarah Edwards - Script Writing, Editing, Project Management & Documentation
Wenhao Shen - Graphic Design
CONCEPT
The installation consists of two parts - the first is a three-screen speculative documentary reflecting on the installation through three characters, each with their own interpretation of the work - from the skeptical to the enthusiastically supportive. We used
The second is an interactive installation staged within two large art shipping crates. Moving the rocks triggers reactive audiovisual elements, generating bold shapes across the LEDs and futuristic sounds inspired by another type of rock - the fracturing of large sheets of ice. Kev Freeney developed a custom patch in Isadora to generate the visuals in response to different frequencies.
The movement also creates scratches in the plastic material where the rocks sit, generating a permanent record of a temporary installation.
Lessons Learned
Providing Context: the exhibition opening made it clear that people did not immediately understand how to interact with Rock Music, even with signs indicating that the rocks should be moved.
It helped to have someone around who could introduce the project - once someone got going with it, others fairly quickly picked up on what to do.
It helped to have someone around who could introduce the project - once someone got going with it, others fairly quickly picked up on what to do.
Prepping for the Worst: as strong as our acrylic sheet was, we did not anticipate how many people would be inclined to slam or throw the rocks in the crate, and ended up with a few holes.
We added additional signage to advise people not to throw the rocks and stood over the project more closely on opening night to prevent further damage, but in the future would put in more protections for the LEDs underneath.
We added additional signage to advise people not to throw the rocks and stood over the project more closely on opening night to prevent further damage, but in the future would put in more protections for the LEDs underneath.
