Case Study: “Zipper Orchestra”
Posted January 17th
My main project for the Sound module involves creating a zipper interface for my music sampler software. While doing research for the project I have stumbled upon a very relative piece of work entitled “Zipper Orchestra” by New York artist JooYoun Paek.
I really admire what JooYoun has created; taking an everyday gesture of zipping and used it to create a exploration in video interaction. This project also raises issues surrounding the actual gestures and movements, are they erotic/intimate? Comical?
Users can play music by zipping and unzipping the physical zipper. The screen is a fashion collage, filled with 9 video clips from different people zipping and unzipping their clothes. By moving 9 sub zippers and 1 main zipper attached in a canvas, users can control the individual zipper motion in the screen as a conductor. The main long zipper will control 9 motions all together. Playing “Zipper Orchestra” enables users to create acoustic and visual harmony with others, and experiment opened erotic sense.
This control method appears to allow the audience to interact with sound and video with a freedom that traditional interfaces cannot accommodate. Does this add a new level of expression and personality into the performance?
Zipper Orchestra - Project page
Another useful building block that this project has provided me with, is the technical research that has gone into creating a computer-readable electrical signal from the zipper itself. There is a technical break-down of two possible methods that was written specifically for the Zipper Orchestra project, and will hopefully save me considerable R&D time.
