Weird Times Comix

Stories are architecture; The stories we tell each other about what is real, the ways we can thrive, and how we should treat one another form the structure that encapsulates our lives.

We become so convinced about the veracity of these stories that they are as concrete as the ground beneath our feet.

Stories that are natural and true for some can be bizarre to others.

Without a doubt, we live in strange days. Weird times are upon us, and the weird stories we tell about our times are in abundance: UFOs, Cellphones, Revolutions, Quantum Communication. Are we becoming the costumed gods we read about as kids? Is the architecture of reality as malleable as the stories we create to describe it?

What stories will we choose to bring into being?

Weird Times Comix is a larger-than-life comic book where participants can enter into the story, becoming a digital puppet, writing the captions, and changing the very look and feel of the page with projection mapped video effects. Two iPad control stations and a Kinect motion tracking camera provide the interactive controllers. Walk into the space created by the comic, and the camera begins tracking your motions, mirroring them in a digital puppet on the cover of the comic. Use the conversation station iPad to contribute to the word bubbles in the comic, and use the effects station to play around with different video clips that bring the comic to life.

Technical Details:
Weird Times Comix has a footprint of about 14′ square. It is built of lightweight, durable Gatorfoam and suspended on a scaffold constructed of century stands and wood. It can be set up indoors or outdoors and requires controlled lighting or night-time conditions to run, but it still looks great in the daylight. The entire installation runs off two iPads, a Kinect, three projectors and three computers, all on 110v power. The projectors are hung from a 10′ truss or lighting pole, and there is a small control station nearby about 6’X 3′, made from portable scaffolding.