Virus

Virus is a conceptual art installation, created by artists Neel Joshi and Asta Roseway, that explores the idea of creating an organism that is fed by the people and activity in the building. The organism is invasive, infectious, and intelligent.

Stage 1 (mid-May – June 9, 2014) consisted of the organism’s initial conception and growth, and played with the idea of art “consuming” art. Virus was designed to take over (digitally/physically) a current show, growing as a function of time and foot traffic as captured by a Kinect. When a person walked by, their silhouette was captured and then rendered over existing content, giving the appearance that the content itself had been tampered with or “graffitied” over. As time progressed, the virus continued to consume until the entire exhibit was nothing but the virus. Physical silhouettes were manually cut, painted, and placed in concert with the digital growth.

Virus exceeds virtual stage to physical manifestation.

Now fully grown, the virus has evolved and become aware of us and itself. In Stage 2 (June 10 – 24, 2014), there is physical grouping and digital organization, reflected by the Virus mimicking us. Now, the captured Kinect images are impressionistically rendered by the Virus. When a person walks by the exhibit, their image is rendered using their own silhouette. Previous renderings are displayed across the columns, giving a snapshot of past activity in the space.

Virus is contained and removed.