Rhizome (\ ʁi.zom \) is an interactive installation exploring the theme of "Memory", and more specifically the transition from a physical medium to a digital medium.
Operation:
A fully refurbished 1932 projector continuously projects an anonymous holiday film from 1972.
As visitors approach the device, sensors scattered across the device analyze their gestures and movements. When the software detects that an image or a video of the installation is being recorded via their smartphone or a camera, an abrasive mechanism is instantly activated and the physical support of the image (8mm film) begins to deteriorate slowly .
Thus, throughout the exhibition and interactions with visitors eager to capture the moment, the images from the film gradually disappear, but are now transferred to the digital memory of smartphones.
These new recordings can in turn be used for new narration and / or for sharing on social networks. However, the Rhizome installation was grafted onto the footage of the newly filmed memory captured by the visitors.
Rhizome can be seen as a discreet and intimate installation that addresses the theme of transmission, memory, forgetting and contemporary means of transmitting and preserving a moment.
It also calls for reappropriation, indeed the 8mm films of this period were relatively expensive, these anonymous vacation memories most certainly belonged to a wealthy family. Today, multi-purpose recording tools (Smartphones) have become widely available and it is considered that more than 75% of the Belgian population has one today.
https://vimeo.com/387737269