Interactive Table

Starting from the interpretation of the Holy See pavilion’s theme, MammaFotogramma reflects over the object table with a video installation about its multifunctionality.

MammaFotogramma, Tavolo Interattivo
The Vatican City dedicates its pavilion at Expo to the well-known passage from the Gospel “Man shall not live on bread alone”.
Within the exhibition path, which presents masterpieces such as the Last supper by Tintoretto and a tapestry by Rubens, we can find the Interactive Table, conceived and produced by MammaFotogramma.
MammaFotogramma, Tavolo Interattivo
MammaFotogramma, Interactive Table
Starting from the interpretation of the general theme chosen by the Holy See pavilion, MammaFotogramma reflects over the object table, represented in its full meaning: not just the kitchen table, but as a workstation, a cornerstone of sacred celebration etc.; an immediate symbol of conviviality and social interaction.

The Interactive Table is a complex structure made of wood, a poor and noble material at the same time that recalls the Christian symbolism. The surface of the table – 11 x 1,2 metres wide, 88 centimetres high – split in 14 sections on which video projectors, hung under the artwork, project various settings, representing different conditions of use of the table. On both the outlines of the long sides of the table, 28 position sensors are applied (14 on each side, placed at a distance of 80 centimetres from each other) to enable video clips of arms and hands, which act according to the reproduced setting. Thanks to this device, each user, getting close to the table and enabling the sensor, has the feeling of an exclusive experience.

Each setting offers a series of mutually related actions, structured as modular loops that work both independently and in synchronic interaction. When two or more contiguous sensors are enabled together, a customised software selects videos of compatible actions, which interacts with each other, customising the visual performance in a myriad of different possible compositions. For instance, in the section devoted to the domestic table, a sensor could enable the projection of making home made pasta, while the sensor on the side of the table trigger the projection of a kid’s arms stealing and modelling a piece of that dough.

MammaFotogramma, Tavolo Interattivo
MammaFotogramma, Interactive Table

This algorithmic complexity aims at describing the conjunction and continuity of the various human activities, which are carried out daily around a table.

The goal of the project is to represent – through the video projections and the table as a makeshift – the sharing and interdependence of the experiences, which the relational chain of a community is based on. By means of a non-linear narration joining diverse movie techniques – film clips, stop-motion animations, pixilation, etc., all distinguishing features of MammaFotogramma studio –, the Interactive Table replicates the richness and variety of the human consortium.

MammaFotogramma, Tavolo Interattivo
MammaFotogramma, Interactive Table

Interactive Table
Design: MammaFotogramma
Expo 2015 – Holy See pavilion

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