Tickled pink
And so the curtain falls after five days, 15 x 1 hour slots and - as an approximate guess - some 5,000 open-jawed observers for Chris O'Shea's public space sensation. Inspired by Land of the Giants, a massive hand chased and tickled shoppers who jostled and whooped to attract the attention of the unknown (actually automated) operator. As one delighted lady of advanced years remarked, "I haven't had a man's hand all over me like that in years!"
It was especially gratifying that it should reach so many people who would never otherwise be aware of the AND Festival of which this was part, especially the elderly, families, children and those of foreign origin who were able to engage without any language barriers; humour being universal.
Saturday saw a six-hour stretch and double bill with the second appearance of Hungry Hungry Eat Head following this Summer's debut at the Big Screen Edinburgh. Creators Joel Gethin-Lewis and Jody Hudson-Powell had added some new animated elements, resulting in pulsing alien brains, panting tongues and blinking eyes to enhance the experience. Everyone loved clutching and waving the cardboard markers, freed from the snobbish associations of pocket hardware and somehow more magical for it. "How do you do it?" was the often repeated question, and being present in the space we were able to explain the method for different levels of comprehension.
It's great to be able to lift the lid to those of all ages on what can seem out utterly baffling, especially via face-to-face so it remains conversational in tone. It's this aspect in a sense that offers true interactivity, while repeat insistence even when told otherwise that the hand is controlled by a living, breathing person (with some playfully accusing total strangers - "Is it you? Have you got the remote in your pocket?"), offers a fascinating insight to human psychology in attributing human characteristics... in this case, of a benign bum-tickling reincarnation of Benny Hill!
Squish squash
The Hand From Above
Chris O'Shea and I first met when I was lurking in an online forum, dashing from my spider-hole to entrap the tastiest prey/interactive talent. Only he bit back (not the face Chris, not the face!), erring on the side of caution and we've been circling each other ever since. It took every last drop from my scent glands, but now we have him... for both myself (Liverpool, Edinburgh) and all the other screens in the family to nibble on. Oh, what a tasty treat he will be! His reward is a significant new screen commission - The Hand From Above - to debut in Liverpool during the AND Festival and tour the entire network thereafter. Unsuspecting pedestrians will be clutched, tickled, stretched or removed entirely in real-time by a giant deity that will treat us with the disdain deserving of our insignificant species. More news as the Pantheon allow it.
Weapon of Mass Hypnosis
Hungry Hungry Eat Head
Despite standing beneath God's own shower nozzle for two days straight, the skies cleared and the sun appeared for a perfect three-hour stretch to allow us a (mostly) dry premiere of Hungry Hungry Eat Head at the Edinburgh screen. Despite competing with 1,200 other events in the biggest cultural festival on Earth, we attracted some 500 participants from passing footfall alone. As only four persons could take part at any time due to a compromise between marker size and camera position, which dictated how many we could fit in the screen frame at any one time, we hit an average of 40 'players' every 15 minutes.
Hungry Hungry Eat Head
I say players, but one unexpected effect of the mesmerising soundtrack from Sound & Sons was that many just stood hypnotized, transported to a beatific state of retro TV bliss, rocking on the spot - staring - pacified and oddly becalmed by the sight of furry cuboid with fangs in place of their own fair mug. This was a beta version pending further development prior to the next appearance as part of the AND Festival at the Big Screen Liverpool on Saturday 26th September, which will be fully pimped out with further enhancements (responsive animated features overlaid upon the public video feed). Not one person queried the purpose of what we doing. If they had, I would have asked them: when was the last time you just played for play sake?
Joel Gethin Lewis and Jody Hudson-Powell
Once again, as I witnessed during the delivery of Glastonbury Village Screen, the self-imposed barrier between adults stepping into the same lungspace as children reared it's boggle eyed, Daily Mail-mache head. At one point, a group of a dozen young adults took turns stepping up one at a time as there were children upfront, until one of those present said "For Chrissakes, they're only kids, they're not gonna bite!" So effective is the exclusion zone around a child-not-your-own, that a sign reading Beware of Unaccompanied Minor would be more effective on a garden gate than the traditional canine threat.
Favourite moment - the American lady who ran down from the penthouse suite of the adjacent Sheraton Hotel with her daughter to join in after spotting us through the window, then asked if we were bringing it to New York. If you have the sofa ma'm, we have the passports! Again, credit due to Joel and Jody (and the absent Luke). You bring shame upon we mortals.
Bad head day
It's coming! It's less than a week to go until the one-off play based event at the Big Screen Edinburgh on Saturday 15th August, Hungry Hungry Eat Head. Graphic markers will be distributed on site between 2pm and 5pm with replacement participants every 5 - 10 minutes. Jody at Hudson-Powell has just sent across this sneak pic of one of dozens of bizarre, animated character heads that continue to move and change during the live experience.
As Leslie Crowther would say (if you lived in the UK during the 80s and watched a lot of TV)... "Come on down!"
How does it feel
Copyright North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University
A peak at one of the still image grabs from the wonderful archive footage appearing in the giant interactive public video carousel that is Places of Public Resort. This picture is from a film clip of a traditional traveling fair (by traditional, I mean trashy, dirty, vulgar), and is accompanied by a nightime excerpt of a ride on the Waltzers.
The lights streak by in a sherbet blur as New Order's 'Blue Monday' blares from the speakers, stomachs clenched, the persons in the wrong corner of the car crushed by the sliding forms of their companions (or the right corner of the car, if that was your intent), spinning, speeding, colour, sound, chaos, joy... if I could erase my textbook image of heaven as a field with daisies and the occasional harpist, this is what I would replace it with. To err is human, to choke back popcorn peppered vomit on a disco deathtrap, divine.
Places of Public Resort
A big thanks to illustrator Michael Snowdon for the fantastic flyer art to accompany the print for Places of Public Resort, which has been awarded the Olympic Inspire Mark as a stand-out cultural leader. I couldn't have reached this stage, only a few weeks until public launch, without the help of the many people involved. Particularly Marion Hewitt at North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University and her colleague and co-curator of this project, Will McTaggart for their patience, enthusiasm and valuable expertise, Andrew Hooper and Jason Taylor at ICDC and the programming team at ONTECA.