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Colony
Colony is an art installation located within the Digital
Harbour precinct at Melbourne’s Docklands. Created
by digital artist and Monash academic Troy Innocent,
Colony can be described as a network of sculptures,
designed to interact as an ecosystem.
“The work consists of 42 totems, about human
height, that communicate with one another.
They communicate by fashing orange green
or blue light, or by making sounds.” Troy said.
“The sculptures not only respond with one another,
but they also react to human activity. As the number
of people within the vicinity of the totems increases,
the light and sound activity also increases.”
Troy likens the interaction between the totems to an
ecosystem, and says that part of the intent of the
installation was to draw attention to the relationship
between the natural and the artifcial.
“The idea of the artifcial ecosystem in digital media
has been around for 10 or 20 years, but it is usually
experienced on screen. In this case, the ecosystem
is embodied within the location of the installation
site itself, and visitors to the space become part
of the ecosystem.”
The installation also allows visitors to manipulate
the sculptures through the use of an iPhone app.
In doing so, Colony has taken the title as the world’s
frst location-based game using the Apple iPhone.
“The iPhone app allows you to walk up to one of the
sculptures and play it like an instrument. Since the
launch we’ve staged a couple of performances at
the site, in which we’ve gathered 20 or 30 people to
play the totems in a group situation. This introduces
another dynamic to the installation whereby it
becomes a communal experience instead of just
an individual experience,” Troy said.
More info at iconica.org/colony/
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02/03/04
Odyssey installation by UK artist Sheena Macrae
Colony, by Troy Innocent, is located
in the Digital Harbour Precinct, Docklands
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