Techart Group’s Office Live is an interactive chain-reaction installation that consists of a series of four interconnected units. Office Live is an attempt to use the concept of kinetic art to represent the characteristics of modern office automation as well as the working life of the human involved.

The core concept is that the modern office, under a standard management procedure and automated office network and system management, has become a self-organizing and self-generating organism. The theme of Office Live is represented via the working environment of such an office and its essential elements. The four units are personified as fish manager, creative concept staff, work executor, and administrative staff respectively. Each installation is set on “standby” and “ready to activate”. The fish manager plays the role of an immediate domino effect activator. By printing work instructions automatically from a printer and activating various devices sequentially, such as reviving the crumpled papers scattered on the desktop or automatically activating the screen, the desktop is instantly switched from private personal tools to a ready workstation. Finally, during the whole process of reporting back to the fish manager, an automated working life circle is completed. There is no actual human involvement or activation throughout the entire process. The activation of the office scene domino effect is done through the swimming of the fish manager. The four chain units consist of an interactive fish tank with a live fish, self-running crumpled papers, a self-playing CD-ROM player and a desk with changing projected images. Rube Goldberg Machine and Kinetic Art inspire the concept of this chain-reaction installation, but the technical skills—RFID, computing network, sound frequency sensor and camera-imaging sensor—enhance the power of the chain-reaction and make the installation more dynamic.

This work stresses no actual “human” participation, but rather, through the interactive chain-reaction kinetic installation, represents the concept of selforganizing and self-generating modern office operation. It also attempts to contemplate the nature of modern day office lives through this installation.