In the interactive installation "Zerseher" by Dirk Lüsebrink and Joachim Sauter, the spectator, when walking past a panel, realizes all of a sudden that wherever he looks, he is destroying the image with his eyes.

Through the juxtaposition, confrontation, fusion, hybridization of traditional art and new media technology, the interactive installation "Zerseher" ("Disviewer") tries to render visible that extended notion of Art created by the artistic use of new media. p The observer finds himself in a museum environment, a framed picture hanging on a wall. Upon coming closer, the viewer notices that exactly the spot of the picture he is looking at is changing under his gaze. He has the opportunity of stepping back to put an end to the destruction he is creating, but he also may completely 'disview' the picture. In the traditional monolithic juxtaposition of flat image and observer, the work of art has left only a few - if any - traces in the observer.

In the interactive dialogue created here, the traces of viewing are additionally rendered visible in the work of art. So, in a seemingly traditional and passive situation, the recipient becomes an (inter)active part. The "disviewed" imagere covers after the results have been either digitally (store) or analogically (print) documented.

Technical set-up

A camera installed above the workstation monitor - both set into the wall- records the observer's eyespace. These images are then analyzed by an "Eye-Tracker", developed as a prototype by Daimler-Benz. The observer's viewing coordinates on the screen are handed to a workstation (Silicon Graphics VGX or Iris) that - with the help of a filtering algorithm changes the areas being watched. After some 'unobserved' time, the "disviewed" image is stored and reset to its original state.

HW: Silicon Graphics
SW: In-House SW