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Overview |
Technical Details |
Art Pretense |
Songs |
Gallery |
Credits
Overview
The high-tech Juggling Jukebox literally wires a human
performer to a musical vending machine. The juggler's motions--translated
into digital signals--control the music.
A frozen juggler--evocative of an unplugged robot--springs to
action when viewers insert money in the bill changer and press a
selection button. After a series of intricately choreographed
"mechanical" juggling tricks accompanied by interactive electronic music,
the jukebox returns to its static position.
A revolutionary advance in juggling technology, the high-tech
Juggling Jukebox is the first juggling act in the world to use body
motion sensors.
The game-changing shift in interface technology is like the advance in user experience from traditional mobile phones to the sleek iPhone.
The jukebox also fuses vending and entertainment in a
unique way--wiring a live human being to an electronic coin changer and
bill validator.
Philosophical and artistic overtones can be found in this fusion
of human and circuit board, but the Juggling Jukebox focuses on pure
entertainment. Laughter is, after all, the only way to reconcile
transforming a human being into a vending machine.
The music for the Juggling Jukebox is shaped by the juggling
itself. Palm triggers and arm-flex sensors control mechanical sounds and
an algorithmic score. Musical inspiration for the songs derives from
sources as diverse as Stravinsky and spy movie scores.
The juggling consists of abstract mechanical movements punctuated,
occasionally, by more literal references to cranks, pendulums and so on.
The patterns underscore the musical drama with attention to rhythm and
phrasing.
The overall design aims to make the technology visible while
referencing vending machines, robots and the archetypal traveling
entertainer (via the traveling case aesthetic).
The high-tech Juggling Jukebox by Bret Battey and James Jay
Overview |
Technical Details |
Art Pretense |
Songs |
Gallery |
Credits
"Juggling Jukebox" is a trademark of James Jay.
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