Public art is dominated by dead heroes, mythical creatures and good-looking abstractions. The general population is increasingly unable to draw meaning from these forgotten or obscure icons. The most significant memory of public interaction remains in "dad-and-Venus-in-Italy" forms of photographic record. This, of course, is common ritual practice.

Public art sites- alien terrain?

In this demonstration, capacitance sensors are attached to an existing metallic element in the landscape, turning it into a reactive agent. Touching the element causes an immediate change in the local environment- the ambient sound level begins to rise (through a mechanical fan motion).

Then, at about ten seconds, the extended interaction is rewarded when the sound curve peaks, and about twenty metres away, a flurry of text (a cut-up "Dada" poem on paper) falls out of a grove of trees. This creates a poetic system on the ground, a remote aggregation of the ritual acts of a group. To "read" the poetic reward, you must traverse the distance to the trees. At the same time, another person or group may occupy the interactive space, and shower you with their poem. The poem itself is about what you and they both see, a visual essay on the shared space, and the iconography of the "button" object.

Proposal sketch: rollover for action.

Robot, sensor and poem: click to view.