Interactive & Visual

Attraction/Repulsion

Contemporary conversations within queer and sexuality discourse suggest that sexuality is not limited to a precise number of sexual categories, but is better understood as something unpredictable, ambiguous and ultimately fluid. 'Attraction/Repulsion' provides a tangible point of reference to engage with these ideas. The unstable and dynamic nature of the blob reacts to the presence of the participants, providing an embodied experience of the notions of 'fluidity' and 'contingency' within a meditative, contemplative space.

Riley Towers
Two hands stretch towards a depth sensor positioned above a projector.
Attraction/Repulsion is an interactive projection installation situated in a small room. The projection depicts giant, pink blobs that float through space, reacting to the participant as they move within the installation space. In its idle state, the blobs form one gigantic and amorphous mass. However, the presence and interaction of the participant disperses the blobs into smaller pieces of itself.

The experience was created using a depth sensor to capture the movement of the participants.

The blobs are a multifaceted metaphor for the fluidity of sexual identity. The blobs have no fixed state. Even when they are fused together, they possess an organic quality that means they are constantly pulsating and seem alive. The singular mass that they form without the participant’s intervention symbolises the ambiguous nature of human sexuality: sexual attraction and desire exists within humans before it determines ‘who we are’.

As soon as the presence of a participant is detected, the singular mass shrinks and the individual blobs split apart, breaking the blob into pieces of itself. These pieces represent the different ways we distinguish ourselves from others on the basis of sexuality.

Riley Towers

Riley Towers is an artist, designer and all-round creative who takes an experimental approach to digital media. She is interested in applying technology in quirky and creative ways to create experiences that capture attention and make you think twice.