Interspecies Dance

Kristin Lucas

INTERSPECIES DANCE with Kinect

A mixed reality experience that integrates motion capture data of myself performing like a flamingo and live motion tracking software and hardware, respectively, to animate a flock of virtual flamingos and bring up to six participants into a flamingo world where they can dance with flamingos as flamingo avatars. The flock of animated flamingos represents wild flamingos that have been sponsored through Dance with flARmingos project series, by myself and numerous participants, through Tour du Valat's flamingo adoption program in Arles, France.

This experience has evolved to introduce new features and original music since it's premiere at Print Screen Festival on June 22, 2017. For the premiere, a flamingo-diet inspired non-alcoholic elixir designed in collaboration with Brooklyn mixologist Christopher Loar, was served to participants; I performed the role of bartender telling stories about flamingos and flamingo conservation. Additionally, I designed a postcard about a new FLAMINGO POOL TOUR offered by The International Birding and Research Center, Eilat, where there was a flamingo colony in threat of habitat destruction nearby, in a collaboration between myself and the IBRCE director, as a free take-away at the elixir table.

2017 Digital Art Residency, co-sponsored by Yafo Creative and Print Screen Festival
2018 digiPlaySpace, Toronto International Film Festival at Bell Lightbox

Kristin Lucas - Artist, Concept, Director, Unity Development & Scripting, 3d graphics, Motion Capture, Animation
Adriano Clemente - Original Music Composition
Joe McKay - Additional Unity scripting

Noam Weiss, Director of The International Birding and Research Center, Eilat

Dance with flARmingos: Interspecies Dance, Print Screen Festival, Holon, June 22, 2017. Image courtesy of Print Screen Festival.

Dance with flARmingos: Interspecies Dance, Software for Artists Day (S4AD) Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, July 8, 2018.

Preview of installation. Participants brought into a projected world as flamingo avatars.

Preview excerpts. A screen recording (edited) documenting participants brought into flamingo world as avatars.

Installation detail, digiPlaySpace, TIFF at Bell Lightbox, February 2018.

Installation detail, EartxFilm InteractiveZone, Dallas, April 20-22, 2018.

Postcard for Flamingo Pool Tour provided by The International Birding and Research Center, Eilat.