Firewater was created for the CINEMA RESET event, part of the New Orleans Film Fest, held at the New Orleans Contemporary Art Center in 2012. The video below is a demo screen capture showing the multiple iterations possible when a user plays with the interactive MAX/MSP application in real time. More info below…

The title FIREWATER refers to the blending of opposing elements. The work incorporates archival footage of two types: (1) videos of historical speeches and (2) politically symbolic videos set to Classical music of the West and East. Throughout the duration of the piece, videos from both categories are combined in real-time, both sonically and visually, using DFT multiplication of the sound sources and multiplication of the video sources. Viewing this interactive work, the audience experiences how the meaning and emotional content of speech and thereby other forms of communication is altered depending on the context in which it is presented.
In the galleries where this work was presented a custom wireless controller was on display allowing the audience to change the video sources from both categories in real time. This demonstration video shows all combinations possible in order. Feel free to skip throughout the video.