"Metamembrana" is an audiovisual interactive installation consisting of a large-scale panoramic projection showing eight interactive stories controlled by four interfaces
The Metamembrana interactive installation is the third episode of the Membrana project; the first two episodes, Protomembrana (2006) and Hipermembrana (2007), are both mechatronic performances. The audiovisual techniques used in Metamembrana are the culmination of a development process that created graphic and interactive solutions for the first two episodes.
Metamembrana was produced by L’Anella Cultural, CCCB (Centre of Contemporary Culture Barcelona), the i2CAT foundation and the cities of Olot, Reus, Granollers, Lleida and Barcelona. When it opened, it was exhibited simultaneously through five exact replicas in each of these cities which were all linked by internet.
The installation consists of a 16:3 format projection showing a single 12 metre image. In front of the screen are four interfaces: a face capture machine in a wooden hut, a mat concealing four on/off sensors, a microphone and Fembrana, an anthropomorphic figure with a joystick nose, an on/off sensor in the breast and an on/off position sensor in the hand.
The installation aims to create means whereby the spectator becomes part of the work. To achieve this, a large part of the content of Metamembrana arose through social interaction based on the exchange of ideas and materials between individuals and organisations in each of the participating cities.
The interfaces enable the users to browse through a hypertext made up of eight interactive micro-stories. These can be accessed through the panoramic landscape that functions as an index for the work. Five of these stories are interactive films and they arose from the social interaction mentioned above. Some reinterpret local traditions such as the epic battle between Blancs and Blaus (Whites and Blues) in Granollers, and the triumph of death performed by the traditional group Colla de Diables/ Ball de Diables from Reus. Others present local themes such as the Paradise Tree in Lleida, musicians in the Raval district of Barcelona or invent stories such as the Fable of Porcoboc from Olot.
The landscape also enables access to other interactive devices such as Guiñol (Puppet Theatre) and Instrumento / Fembrana. When the user shouts into the opening of the wooden hut, s/he triggers the face capture device and activates the interactive Guiñol. The user’s face is immediately digitalised and becomes the face of a character on the screen. The spectator thus acquires grotesque ephemeral identities. Fembrana is designed as an online interactive instrument enabling the different exhibition centres to be linked, (when there are several), and it also enables spectators to interact in real time with Internet users.
