Set Top Box
Shanghai Biennale Installation
A small television sits out front, playing TV. Projected onto the wall directly behind is a live transformation of the television signal. In this installation, we used a feed from the SOAP channel, a non-stop source of American daytime soap operas and frighteningly loud commercials.
The transcript of the broadcast is turned into a three dimensional topography of colors, oscillating forms, and linguistic computations. The software watches TV, combing the transcript for emotional and thematic content. The TV soundtrack is transformed into a multi-layer composition, alternating from lifeless robotic speech to cavernous melodic drones. The effect is a floating typographic life form - fed by, performed by, and eternally making sense of, the television.
