Interface (Detail)
What do you get if you cross to two architects, four slot machines and a load of punk memorabilia in a brand new Dutch museum? Well, if you happen to be pop Svengali, Malcolm McLaren, you get an interactive art installation called "The Casino of Authenticity and Karaoke".
The installation was built for the grand opening of the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastrict, Holland. The installation allowed up to four players to gamble for video, stills and stories using one of four Dutch slot machines. The slot machines controlled a large projection along one wall of the installation. If a player was lucky enough to score a big win, a third projector kicked in with video footage also from Malcolm’s Archive (Buffalo Girls is still my favorite).
The project was a collaborative effort between Nykris, architect Stephen Williams, Why Not Associates and Sham. I worked with the architects to develop the concept for the interactive bit, designed the graphics and wrote the Lingo code that ran the installation. The custom Xtra that enabled Director to talk to the slot machines was written by the enigmatic Graham Bartrum. We also spent a week on-site in Maastrict, constructing the installation.
The project won Nykris the Digit Award for Best Use of Design Creativity Offline, in the 2000 British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Awards. The installation was also shown at the German Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie.
The Slot Machines, Designed by Why Not Associates
3D Model of the Space (Created by Sham69)
Comments
This was a totally excellent project. Hello Joe btw.
joe, thanks for putting this up. Really nice to see it again as there seems to be no trace of it anymore on the web… wtf happened? really enjoyed working on it with you on it, tho 10 years later I still have malcolm’s voice ringing in my ears. Editing hours & hours of cobbled ropey video footage together into 2 minute shorts is not something I’d like to repeat on a 200mhz processor !!! I’m still in recovery!