Now this was a crazy little show that was so far ahead of it’s time that it nearly all turned to mush! The Spunkflakes worked with a group of students from the RCA to create a special interactive version of our Family Values show. They helped us create a stage set of our very own dream home — astroturf for carpet, big fuzzy sofa and chairs — all wired up with pressure pads and hidden buttons to allow us to trigger audio samples during our live performance.

Family Values

We even shot a whole set of character sequences playing various items in the house — a teapot, clock and even a spoon — and edited these into video samples. They were all set to trigger during the show, playing on the back wall of the set which was a giant video screen. Alas, great ambition, but afraid the technology, or perhaps just our command of it, wasn’t up to the task as the state-of-the-art Commodore Amiga used to manage the video feeds crashed each time after only a few triggers!

Dream Home

We dropped the interactive video element of the show, and instead banged out our Family Values production with the audio-triggers in tow. Great fun and an interesting experience. Seemed to go down well, and even led to a review in that art bible Frieze:

They are all what clowns should be: not loveable, namby-pamby jokesters or bulimic Ronald McDonald milksops who distribute balloons to the kiddies, but an updated equivalent of Shakespearean jesters: bikers in black leather with scars and massive codpieces, ramming spunkburgers down our throats till we vomit.
— Stuart Morgan, Frieze Magazine, Issue 19, Nov-Dec 1994

The Exhibition

In addition to our work bringing computer interactivity to our live show, we also worked for quite a few months exploring all sorts of different av.

Cabaration

Exploring bring computer generated content into a live performance via sensors and on-stage triggers controlled by the performers.

Disc-O-Rama

A CD-Rom game in which we created a virtual home for the Spunkflakes. A house in a typical London street, but once inside, full of Spunkflakes delights.

Coffee Book

A glass-topped coffee table with a touch-screen interface allowing visitors to thumb through a Spunkflakes family photo and video album.

Singing Urinal

Your Flow Makes It Go — a sound installation bringing interactivity to gentlemen’s loos. See The Singing Urinal for more details.

Thanks

Special credit to everyone who worked on the projects — The O-Rama-MultiMedia Team: Natalie Hunter, Simon Grosser, Henry Johnson and Dan Salmon. The Spunkflakes: Dan Salmon, Paul Neesham & Shaun McDermott.

Exhibited at the Royal College of Art, Interactive MultiMedia Degree Show, 12th to 19th September 1994 with live performance on 14th September 1994.

It's just Pretend

Family Values