HIGH MUCK A MUCK: PLAYING CHINESE
For this project I programmed the interactive installation and contributed to the interaction design. Essentially the design of the High Muck a Muck: Playing Chinese website was recreated in Max using the same media assets. Sequences of images are stimulated by audience interaction with the Pak Ah Pu lottery game. The audience marks a Pak Ah Pu card which is then read by simple computer vision. Aleatoric processes invoke a sense of chance and avoid repetition, even if the same Pak Ah Pu card is played. In the sequencing, selections of text emerge last, rather like a fortune. A loop of 8 short videos play when the game is not in progress.
An image of the Candian Pacific Railway page from the High Muck a Muck: Playing Chinese website.
High Muck a Muck: Playing Chinese is an interactive poem, created through an interdisciplinary collaboration of 11 Canadian artists, programmers and community members. The project consists of an interactive website, 8 videos and an interactive gallery installation.
High Muck a Muck: Playing Chinese explores the theme of Chinese immigration to the west coast of Canada – both historical and contemporary – the tensions that exist in and between these narratives.
The project launched in Nelson, BC at Oxygen Art Centre on July 4th, 2014 and was exhibited in Bergen, Norway at the Electronic Literature Organization Conference and Arts Festival Aug 5-7, 2015.
The High Muck a Muck: Playing Chinese interactive poem website is here.
Find more information at Nicola Harwood's site here.
Credits:
Please see a full list of credits and sponsors here.
High Muck a Muck Artist Colective
Nicola Harwood — project curator, website design, video
Thomas Loh — video
Fred Wah — text, oral history
Bessie Wapp — video, performance
Jin Zhang — music, sound composition, oral history
The project is sponsored by Oxygen Art Centre and supported by The Canada Council for the Arts, The BC Arts Council, Creative BC, The Columbia Basin Trust, The Vancouver Foundation, Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance and the City of Nelson.
High Muck a Muck: Playing Chinese installed at Oxygen Art Centre, Nelson, BC.
Marking a Pak Ah Pu ticket.
The marked Pak Ah Pu is shown on the screen. The cabinet with the webcam to read the cards is shown in the foreground.