Description

This project proposal is for an interactive video installation set on the Brooklyn Bridge where live data (vehicle traffic) dictates the presentation of large-scale video projections on the surface of the Brooklyn Bridge’s main towers.

Prototype

The idea behind this project is to relate the present usage of the Brooklyn Bridge to the building and design of the structure’s past. The installation will reflect the city’s natural flow of moving traffic manifested in a video projection. Why was the bridge built and does it serve similar purposes as it did when it was constructed in 1883? The project combines the daily usage of the bridge with the construction in the video so that its utility (ie. Transportation of people) is causing the story to unfold on the projection. The video shown would be historical footage of the bridge – from the Manhattan side and the Brooklyn side – the footage would differ showing construction and the impact felt on both sides of the river from the bridge. The video’s playback would be triggered by motion sensors sensing cars as they pass over the bridge in both directions.

System

The site proposal is for the Manhattan side and Brooklyn side towers of the Brooklyn Bridge. The installation would be outdoors with projections onto the Manhattan and Brooklyn faces of the stone support tower. Motion detector sensors would be placed beside the inbound and outbound roadways of the bridge to track the presence of cars driving by the site. If a car drives by the sensors, they trigger the large video projections to play a specified number of frames on the face of the bridge. Thus the videos will only play if there is automobile traffic on either side of the bridge Ð if there are no cars, the videos will remain motionless until triggered.

Here is a visual mockup/demo of the proposal