ancer is an interactive experience of different levels of abstraction and representation in a video of a dancer. It's a 'database cinema' piece where the viewer fluidly controls the level of representation/abstraction by moving the mouse vertically over the (900x879) image. This vertical interactivity also works on mobile using one's finger or via a Leap Motion device by moving one's index finger vertically.
By default, horizontal cursor position changes the speed and direction of play of the video/animation; it scrubs+ the video; the interactivity operates in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions and on different properties of the video.
Eleven painterly versions of the 99-frame video (1,089 images, 140 Mb) have been created by Steve DiPaola using his generative, machine learning AI software, corresponding to eleven levels of abstraction. The higher the cursor on the image, the higher the level of abstraction. The lowest level is representational of the dancer and the room. The highest level is totally abstracted into line segments demarcating rough regions.
We're used to seeing abstract visuals, but this experience of interactively changing/controlling the level of abstraction/representation in a video is unusual. We're used to a camera moving through 3d space, moving through that sort of changing perspective. But we're not used to controlling a 'camera' that moves through a more conceptual/stylistic/abstract space.
There is some keyboard interactivity as well. The space key toggles Pause. Right and left arrow keys go forward or back one image. Up and down arrows change the level of abstraction.
Dancer works well on desktop machines with mouse and keyboard interactivity, on mobile devices via touch, and in installations via Leap Motion and/or touch interactivity. It works as a piece of net art or locally as an installation.
