Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Mumbai, India
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Techfest is an annual technology showcase held at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. This massive three-day event is entirely student run, and features an international array of artists, engineers, and performers.
Though the organizers of Techfest were very supportive in other ways, the show did not have a budget for shipping or travel. Initial estimates revealed that the existing SHKB would cost about $4000 to ship one-way to Mumbai. In fact, I’ve turned down a number of international shows due to the difficulty of moving such a large and heavy work. Too excited to pass up this opportunity, I redesigned the entire piece so that it could travel on the plane with me in luggage.
I also used the occasion of Techfest to add pressure-sensitivity to the SHKB. In the past, the work was entirely concerned with limitations, in that it made the writing process more difficult. Though it is still quite difficult to use, the SHKB can now do something that normal keyboards cannot: control font size based on the force applied to a keystroke.
Many of my interactive works operate as social experiments: I present an audience with an opportunity, then stand back and record the results. Despite the huge audience that engaged with the piece at Techfest, almost no one took the time to write a complete word or sentence. This had nothing to do with the language barrier; rather, most participants were only interested in the fundamental operation of the piece.
Once I detailed the technical aspect of the SHKB, I was almost always asked about the practical application of the work. After attempting a variety of art-centric explanations with poor results, I finally settled on describing the work as an experiment. This term seemed to satisfy the science crowd, while still leaving room for theoretical conversations with those who wanted to know more.