Hi, Glen here, this will be an ongoing blog series reflecting on the last 7 years of Playable Streets by exploring the 17 new works we have created so far.
#2 - In Touch
Conductive paint! That is where the In Touch (and later Sounding Stories) journey began. I didn’t know how we were going to use it but I knew I wanted to experiment with this relatively new material (Specifically, the non-toxic kind created by London based company Bare Conductive).
I discussed this experimentation with the programmers for ArtSpace in Ringwood, run by Maroondah Council. They thought it would fit with a program they ran which developed new work from artists of different disciplines. We would present the work as an exploration of this interactive medium and run a series of workshops in the space to develop the idea with a range of participants.
Glen’s drawing of a ninja turtle circa 2023 (still got it?)
I am not a painter - I did get pretty good at drawing ninja turtles in primary school but that is still close to the limit of my figurative (art) capabilities. Luckily at the time I lived with an amazing artist, Edwina (Edie) Atkins who went out onto the streets of Ringwood to create a series of portraits that we would present on the gallery walls and activate with sound. Composer Cayn Borthwick developed sounds that ranged from pitched notes to atmospheric soundscapes. Pikkle Henning developed the ‘brain boxes’ as we were calling them, consisting of arduino controllers, capacitive touch sensors and breakout wires that would connect to the conductive paint.
People interacting with Edie’s paintings, In Touch, Ringwood 2016.
This was our first ever ‘gallery’ installation as this newly formed company/ collective Playable Streets. Luckily this program at ArtSpace was all about experimentation and public engagement as we were about to be schooled in a few different ways. Using this medium of conductive paint for the first time was a challenge, large sections of paint wouldn’t work and using the paint as ‘wires’ to travel long distances was also a no go. We were also starting to learn about the elusive nature of capacitive touch sensing and the importance of software calibration, environmental factors and the appeasement of mystical computer gremlins.
Your DNA arts group in the In Touch exhibition
Edie and I ran a series of workshops in the space with a wide range of participants, pre and primary school groups, a group from your DNA (an all abilities arts group from Ringwood) and people from a local Chinese community group of people living with dementia. Each workshop was vastly different and largely participant led. I was lucky to have been working for Polyglot Theatre for several years at that time, presenting many workshops with the amazing Sue Giles (still a huge influence and mentor). Sue gave me the skills and confidence to drop myself into a room of people and ride the participant led workshop rollercoaster!
It was impossible to recognise the significance of these workshops at the time but they became the seeds for several new works that would be led by co-design and participation (Specifically future works that would be developed at ArtSpace over the next 4 years - Sounding Stories, Islands & TiM).
The exhibition was a success as it drew people into this new cultural space to explore art with their hands! This was evidenced by the smudges of black conductive paint all over the walls (interaction trails I like to call them!). Evidently it’s good to use a strong fixative over the paint if you’re not after that effect! It was so important to have a space (and funds!) supplied by Arts in Maroondah to experiment, fail and succeed in equal measure.
In Touch is now part of our ‘Collaborate and Activate’ repertoire and will feature more community collaboration in future seasons of the work.
You can see / read more about In Touch here
If you are interested in presenting In Touch, collaborating with us or just want to say hi drop us a line: hello@playablestreets.com
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