Haze Express

an interactive installation

© 1999, Christa SOMMERER & Laurent MIGNONNEAU

developed at IAMAS International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, 1999

Haze Express Concept

HAZE Express is an interactive computer installation that develops the metaphor of traveling and watching landscapes passing by through the window of vehicles such as trains, cars and air planes. When looking at a landscape at high speed, one does not really know very much about this landscape, how it looks in details or how for example people live in it. The passing landscapes become mere images, accumulations of forms, shapes and colors, like a haze of impressions.

HAZE Express is an interactive computer installation that performs the recombination, development and evolution of seemingly random images in a way that is reminiscent of how we see images through the window of a train.
 
In the interactive journey with HAZE Express the viewer can watch the passing images, stop them and look at their composition in more detail. The way he moves his hand on the train window surface will influence how the landscapes behind become composed: non-deterministic evolutionary image composition linked to interaction will always provide new and unique image elements that become part of the semi-realistic and semi-virtual trip through data landscapes.

Interaction/Genetic Selection:

Sitting in one of the HAZE Express's comfortable chairs the viewer can look out of the window and move his hand on the window surface. When he slides his hand from the left to the right, the images will slide in the same direction, uncovering continuous landscapes, composed of organic and abstract image scenes. The location of where the viewer touches the window as well as the frequency and speed of his hand's movement will influence what kind of image elements will be created. Genetic selection is used to always provide new image elements that are selected upon by the viewer's interaction. The faster the hand will slide horizontally on the window surface, the faster the landscape will scroll in the same direction. Images can also be simply stopped by ceasing the hands movement while remaining with the hand on the window surface.

Set-Up:
 
As there are 2 windows and 4 seats available in Haze Express up to 4 visitors can interact simultaneously. The two compartments are designed to let the viewer interact privately but still be able to observe how the other viewers interact in their compartment.

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Haze Express Exhibitions

2023 The Artwork as a Living System at iMAL Brussels (from April 14th to Sept 24th 2023)
Retrospective exhibition Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau
Curators: Karin Ohlenschläger
Featuring "Interactive Plant Growing", "A-Volve", "Phototropy", "Life Writer", "Mobile Feelings II", "Portrait on the Fly", "Haze Express", "Eau de Jardin", "People on the Fly", "Fly Plotter Portraits", "Digital Fly Portraits", "Scavengers", "The Value of Art", "Fly Objects", "Ar(t)chive", and "ToBee"
Co-production in collaboration with the ZKM, Karlsruhe (DE) and the OÖ Landes-Kultur, Linz (AT)
- Brussels, Belgium

2022 OK Zentrum Linz "The Artwork as a Living System" (2nd Sept 2022 - 26th Feb 2023)
Retrospective exhibition
Curators: Alfred Weidinger and Genoveva Rückert-Sommerauer
Featuring "Interactive Plant Growing", "A-Volve", "Phototropy", "Life Writer", "Life Spacies II", "Mobile Feelings II", "Portrait on the Fly", "Haze Express", "Eau de Jardin", "People on the Fly", "Fly Plotter Portraits", "Digital Fly Portraits", "Scavengers", "The Value of Art", "Fly Objects", "Anthroposcope", "Antopolis", "Ar(t)chive", and "ToBee".
- Linz, Austria

2022 ZKM Retrospective "The Artwork as a Living System" (07.May.2022 – 31.July.2022)
(video trailer) (STIR World article)
Retrospective exhibition
Curated by Peter Weibel (Cuator), Jessica Menger (Co-Curator), Philipp Ziegler (Co-Curator). Nina Liechti (Curatorial Assistance)
The interactive installations in the exhibition tell the story of almost 30 years of artistic work by the Austrian-French artist duo Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau.
Based on an idea of Karin Ohlenschläger.
The exhibition is a co-production of ZKM | Karlsruhe, OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH, Linz and iMal, Brussels. The exhibition is accompanied by a scholarly publication in English edited by Karin Ohlenschläger, Peter Weibel and Alfred Weidinger in the Leonardo Book Series in collaboration with MIT Press.
Featuring "Interactive Plant Growing", "A-Volve", "Phototropy", "Life Writer", "Life Spacies II", "Mobile Feelings II", "Portrait on the Fly", "Haze Express", "Eau de Jardin", "People on the Fly", "Fly Plotter Portraits", "Digital Fly Portraits", "Scavengers", "The Value of Art", "Fly Objects", "Ar(t)chive", and "ToBee".
- Karlsruhe, Germany

2015 MOT Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
18th July 2015 -Oct.12 2015
featuring documentation of "Haze Express" in "The Railway Series"
Curator: Tomoe Moriyama
- Tokyo Japan

2000 Kiasma Museum
Alien Intelligence
curated by Erkki Huhtamo

- Helsinki, Finland

1999 Cyber 1999
- Lisbon, Portugal

1999 Ars Electronica 1999
OK Center Comtemporary Art Center Linz
- Linz, Austria

1999 Interaction 1999
- Ogaki Gifu, Japan