On the occasion of the Universal Exposition, Mammafotogramma will exhibit a unique video installation set up within the Vatican Pavilion, which focuses on the table as an object to communicate symbolic values and numerous meanings.
Milan will host the Universal Exposition theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” from May 1st to October 31st 2015. Among the numerous attendees, a special role of counterpoint will be carried out by the Vatican City that dedicates its pavilion to the well-known passage from the Gospel “Man shall not live on bread alone” (Mt 4, 4).
Starting from the interpretation of the general theme chosen by the Holy See pavilion, MammaFotogramma reflects over the object table, represented in its full meaning: not just the kitchen table, but as a workstation, a cornerstone of sacred celebration etc.; an immediate symbol of conviviality and social interaction.
The Interactive Table will be a complex structure made of wood, a poor and noble material at the same time that recalls the Christian symbolism. The surface of the table – 11 x 1,2 metres wide, 88 centimetres high – will be split in 14 sections on which video projectors, hung under the artwork, will project various settings, representing different conditions of use of the table. On both the outlines of the long sides of the table, 28 position sensors will be applied (14 on each side, placed at a distance of 80 centimetres from each other) to enable video clips of arms and hands, which act according to the reproduced setting. Thanks to this device, each user, getting close to the table and enabling the sensor, will have the feeling of an exclusive experience.
Each setting will offer a series of mutually related actions, structured as modular loops that work both independently and in synchronic interaction. When two or more contiguous sensors will be enabled together, a customised software will select videos of compatible actions, which will interact with each other, customising the visual performance in a myriad of different possible compositions. For instance, in the section devoted to the domestic table, a sensor could enable the projection of making home made pasta, while the sensor on the side of the table will trigger the projection of a kid’s arms stealing and modelling a piece of that dough.
This algorithmic complexity aims at describing the conjunction and continuity of the various human activities, which are carried out daily around a table.
The goal of the project is to represent – through the video projections and the table as a makeshift – the sharing and interdependence of the experiences, which the relational chain of a community is based on. By means of a non-linear narration joining diverse movie techniques – film clips, stop-motion animations, pixilation, etc., all distinguishing features of MammaFotogramma studio –, the Interactive Table replicates the richness and variety of the human consortium.
