Coddiwomple from Osman Koç on Vimeo.
Coddiwomple means “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination”, a nod to the wondering brain. The installation aims to create an inviting space for the audience to participate and play. The incongruous nature of the visual content plays with the audience’s perception of scale. The visuals move like a fluid and seeing each individual particle creates the impression of a molecular scale. The fluid responds to the movements of the audience creating ripples, waves, and crashes. The sheen and colors change in accordance with the speed of the movement.
The interactivity in the installation has a sandbox-like approach. As the nature of this fluid sandbox creates a familiar setting, the unfamiliar aspects of the piece prompt the audience to explore the boundaries and different behaviors of the environment. A sandbox doesn’t have rules, a goal, or a winner. It’s sole objective is the play itself.
The installation utilizes a wide angle lens camera to perceive users in a large area, transforming them from bypassers to participants. The camera image is processed via optical flow algorithm to measure the direction and magnitude of movement in the perceived area. Coddiwomple is about the journey rather than the result, thus the nature of the interactivity is similar to that of a sandbox. It aims to create space for users’ creativity and interaction with others, as the ripples they create turn into waves and crashes on the edges with increasing speed in the movement. The speed of the fluids also change their color, therefore the overall imagery gets brighter as the audiences’ movements intensify.