M-lab is an interactive AR installation exploring the complex and at times conflicting relationship between the artist, their artwork, and the audience. The artist takes a step back, objectively assessing the process of artmaking and the inherent vulnerability that her artworks feed on. To generate more authenticity and be perceived as more desirable, the artworks aim to further expose the artist. The experience presents a personal take on the Milgram Experiment study conducted in the early 1960s and expands on the dynamic of obedience and destruction. Instead of a conductor commanding the participants to administer the electric shock-like in the Milgram Experiment, the artwork does so by means of enticing the audience through interactivity. Based on the audience’s proximity to the avatar, electric shocks will be triggered respectively and the avatar will, in response, run faster. The avatar’s speed on the hamster wheel manifests itself in the intensity of light generated in both prototypes. Two prototypes have been developed so far, one of which uses a physical source (Blue LEDs) in the real world working with ultrasound sensors to calculate the audience’s distance, and the other one presents a plasma globe in the AR world, reacting to the avatar’s pace based on the position of the audience.
Avatar of the artist developed to be used in different projects including the ongoing interactive AR series.
Setup diagram of the AR (left). Initial sketch of the AR (right)