SHIFTING CONTEXT
For this assignment, the goal was to create an audiovisual (AV) installation combining both sound and text. The theme “Shifting Context” focused on exploring how perception changes depending on perspective and environment, encouraging the audience to reconsider familiar situations in new ways.I completed this project individually. Starting from my own concept, I developed an installation that used projection, sound, and designed typography to create an immersive experience. By presenting multiple perspectives and contrasting them within the same space, the installation aimed to challenge viewers’ assumptions and highlight how context can alter meaning. The intention was not just to show something to the audience, but to make them actively engage with and navigate these shifting contexts.
Maker:
Chenoa de Boer
Concept of SHIFTING CONTEXT
The concept of my project explores how perception, interaction, and collaboration shape experience. The installation invites viewers into an audiovisual environment that reacts to their actions. It begins with a static image displaying the text “Do you see me?” accompanied by subtle ambient sound, drawing the audience in and encouraging curiosity.
The experience unfolds in phases depending on how participants interact with the buttons. Pressing the visual button reveals moving imagery with the text “Do you hear me?”, while pressing the audio button introduces the music, which I composed for a separate audio design project and reused here, while the static text remains. Only when both buttons are pressed simultaneously does the installation reach its full expression, showing dynamic visuals and music together with the text “Do you feel it?”. The buttons are placed on opposite sides of the installation, so no single participant can activate the full experience alone. This design encourages collaboration and emphasizes how context and cooperation influence perception, highlighting contrasts between isolation and connection, partial and complete engagement, and how meaning shifts depending on participation.
OFFICIAL SET UP
DIFFERENT PHASES
TOUCH DESIGNER PROJECT
The proces and technical approach
The project began with creating the visual elements in TouchDesigner. I experimented with movement, shapes, and colors to design engaging visuals that could later respond to sound. Initially, the installation was only visual. For the audio i used the music track i made for audio design in Ableton Live and integrated it into the system, programming the visuals to respond dynamically to the rhythm and intensity of the audio. At this stage, the experience was immersive but lacked the interactive element needed to fully convey the theme of Shifting Context.
To address this, I introduced the two-button system, positioned on opposite sides of the installation to require collaboration. This created four distinct phases in the experience. The first phase is the idle state, with the static text “Do you see me?” and ambient sound. The second phase occurs when the visual button is pressed, revealing the moving visuals along with the text “Do you hear me?”. The third phase is triggered by pressing the audio button alone, playing the music while the static text remains. The fourth and final phase requires both buttons to be pressed simultaneously. In this phase, the full audiovisual experience unfolds, but participants must hold both buttons to maintain it. The text “Do you feel it?” represents the connection between the groove, visuals, and music, creating a moment where viewers are fully immersed in the vibe.
Throughout the process, I experimented with audiovisual synchronization, interaction design, and timing to ensure smooth transitions between phases. By starting with visuals, adding audio composed in Ableton Live, and finally implementing interactivity, the installation gradually evolved into a collaborative experience where participants’ actions directly shape perception, fully embodying the concept of Shifting Contex
REFLECTION
During this project I realised how important the feedback was about making the shifting context theme more visible. In the beginning, my focus was mainly on creating visuals that moved to the music, which I really enjoyed experimenting with in TouchDesigner. Learning how to make visuals react to audio was fun and helped me understand the technical possibilities much better. But the installation still lacked the conceptual shift that the assignment asked for.
After the feedback, I started thinking more about interaction and how the experience could change based on the viewer’s actions. This led to the idea of using two buttons and creating different phases in the installation. Placing the buttons opposite each other introduced collaboration, which strengthened the theme and made the context literally shift depending on how many people interacted.
This project taught me how combining concept with technical exploration can make an installation much more meaningful, and it made me more confident in using TouchDesigner creatively.