Eye Tracking in art and design (Emmanuel Mahé, Ensadlab)

 

This program by Ensadlab, is an evolution of a program initiated some years ago, Reflective Interactions centered around the experimenting and modeling of interactive and performative installations in art and design. The introduction of the eye-tracking device in this program will take place on two levels: eye-tracking will be used as a central element for creation (installations, performances, environments) and as a tool helping to track the reception of the created artworks. The theoretical dimension of the project will be centered on the notion of « device », which is becoming increasingly important in contemporary creation, in art as in design. At the confluence of artistic, technological and societal issues, a device necessarily involves an operational dimension, be it actual or potential. This is especially true of interactive or performative devices, which transform the reality in which they take place and of which they are a part. EnsAD has already extensive experience concerning the modalities of the operative relationship between this type of devices and their context. The goal is to create environments, objects, content and programs whose goal is to invent and model specific and meaningful interfaces resulting in interactive and performative situations relevant in the context of current and future societal issues. These artistic and design devices can not be abstracted from their socio-technical conditions: they implement them and, also, put them to the test.