Intersection

interactive sound installation, dark space, 16 x 13m
1993

Visitors encounter the sounds of 4 or 8 lanes of car traffic rushing across a completely dark space while a dimly lit exit sign on the other side of the room instructs them to venture into the random moving traffic. If visitors encounter a car in the darkness, it comes to a loud screeching halt with its engine idling in front of the visitor. When a visitor steps away from a stopped car, it quickly accelerates past the visitor and across the room, then it slowly fades out into the darkness. When a visitor remains in front of a stopped car for more than a few seconds, a continuous pile-up of cars is created with smashing sounds behind the stopped car.

Hundreds of visitors can be in the installation at one time, each capable of affecting the traffic.

Exhibitions of Intersection

Les Chants Mécaniques, Lille, France. 2007
SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. 2005
Exploratorium, San Francisco, USA. 2005
The Works Festival, Edmonton, Canada. 2004
ArtFuture 2000, Taipei, Taiwan. 2000
VIA Festival, Maubeuge, France. 2000
EXIT Festival, Creteil, France. 2000
Kunst Haus/Comtec Art Festival, Dresden, Germany. 1999
Metronom, Barcelona, Spain. 1997
New York Coliseum, New York City, USA. 1997
Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria. 1996
Sonambiente Sound Festival, Berlin, Germany. 1996
Images du Futur, Montreal, Canada. 1995
Sound Symposium, St. John's, Canada. 1994
European Media Art festival, Osnabruck, Germany. 1993

ZKM International Media Art Award Nomination, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2000
Comtec Art Anerkennung/Recognition, Dresden, Germany, 1999

Bouchard, Gilbert A. (2004) "Playing in virtual four-lane traffic a tad unnerving," Edmonton Journal, June 27. Canada.

Serra, Catalina (1997) “Metronom inaugura su temporada con las <<intersecciones>>
acústicas de Don Ritter.” ABC-Cataluna, September 30, p.16. Barcelona, Spain.

“El artista Don Ritter inaugura una instalación sonora en Metronom.” (1997)
in El Mundo-Cataluna, September 30. p. 4. Barcelona, Spain.

Serra , Catalina (1997) “Pesadilla en Fusina, 9” in El Pais-Cataluna, October 10, p. 16. Barcelona, Spain.

Crysler, Julie (1996) "The Interactive Art of Don Ritter" in Klangkunst. München: Prestel/Akademie der Künst. Germany.

Ritter, Don (1996)"The Intersection of Art and Interactivity" <English> <Deutsch>
Ars Electronica Festival 96, Vienna: Springer, Austria.

The Interactive Systems of Don Ritter
by Bruce Johnson

press release for Sound Symposium, St. John's, Canada.1994

Marshall McLuhan spoke of information media as extensions of the human nervous system, while Norbert Weiner created the science of cybernetics, envisioning systems where humans and machines merged to create a new hybrid. In modern life both of these visions can be seen as commonplace; our understanding and cataloguing of the world around us is inseparably linked to our familiarity with and use of technology.

To enter an installation by artist Don Ritter is to become an active participant in an technological emulation of a tangible and somewhat familiar experience. Ritter's work INTERSECTION creates a space which pivots the viewer between sensations of empathy and tension, re-enacting an environment that is a metaphor for both modern life and its accompanying anxieties.

INTERSECTION is an interactive sound simulation of vehicles driving along four lines of traffic. Occupying a darkened space, the installation is triggered and completed by the "intrusion" and interaction of the human participant. Through use of infra-red sensors and feedback technologies, the movement and placement of the listener within the space alters the sound (and therefore the presumed motion and bearing) of the oncoming car. A person entering the installation simultaneously transforms and triggers it, by framing themself within the trajectory of oncoming vehicle(s).

Ritter's installation places the audience in the active position of accomplice, making them as much a part of the medium as the technological supports that make it work. Entering and interacting with the art is a cybernetic act; a melting of the closed system of technology and fixed programming, with the seemingly random response of the human participant. The work will resonate with anyone who had experienced the sense of chance, risk and loss of control that goes hand-in-hand with the event embodied in this place.