Two big screens tower in front of industrial-sized treadmills like divine guardians. As you climb atop the treadmills like a timid mouse and start running, an urban scene pops up onto the screen and the image moves forward to the pace of your feet. A street, an alleyway, a train platform, a harbor, a track, a mountain road... In these scenes, not a single soul - just you, running intensely through the night.

The interaction of the installation occurs as you run forward on the belt. The further forward you go, the faster the belt moves. In the middle of the screen there is a small hole in which a camera has been placed that judges the distance between the runner and screen.

The visual imagery is Rotterdam at night. The artist, Marnix de Nijs, chose Rotterdam because that is where he lives, but the imagery is beautiful. What I heard from Marnix is that he blocked the roads and filmed it with a high definition camcorder. On top of that, the cameraman for the project worked on a film from British director Peter Greenway.

There were as many as thirty different scenes filmed. It had been processed, but the creation of the film took two passionate years. A masterpiece. This dedication is the driving force behind this installation.

Out of all the pieces that I saw at Ars, I liked RMR the best. The charm of the installation was great, and so was Marnix himself. At Ars the year before he was just a passing acquaintance, but we got to know each other at DEAF04 in Rotterdam. At a glance, he looks like a guy you’d be ready to ignore if you ran into him in a Bronx alleyway, but once you talk to him, this irresistible smile appears on his face.

And all of his physical, dynamic artwork have a certain intensity to them. When I tried the machine though, I sprinted off the belt and broke my collarbone. It was sore. You definitely need to check out his other works too!
...Marnix de Nijs’s Site

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When I heard the name, it kinda smelled like a special attack from Street Fighter 2, but it was actually a lot more stylish so I was a personally a little disappointed.

Using a Wacom display, as you draw on a blank white screen the installation creates a sound. But the screen isn’t an ordinary flat surface. It’s actually rotating from right to left along a vertical axis creating a 3D canvas. In other words, the sketcher becomes a sculptor digitally creating a 3D sculpture.

You can see a thin horizontal line on the screen. Actually, depending on the place that you write, the scale of the sound changes. In other words, this white canvas is actually murmuring music. Draw a line near the top and a high pitch sound comes out, but draw near the bottom and you get a low pitch. The sound’s length follows the length of the line.
So this 3-dimensional canvas also has a time axis. And, you can also save your sketch (sculpture) on the machine.

The creator, Amit Pitaru, is of course a pro at his creation, and all of the sketches that I thought were beautiful were his. The instrument requires quite a lot of skill, and I bet if there was a "Sonic Wire Sculptor Championships", it would create quite a stir.

Also, the sketch that appears at the end of the video clip is supposed to be a Japanese comic character called the "Kamen Rider". It was drawn by Mrs.Nomura who always coordinates trips for us.
...Amit Pitaru’s Site

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Reunion part 2. Blast Theory won the Golden Nica for Interactive Art at ARS 2003. This piece uniquely mixes real and virtual worlds, which they often do in their work. The figures and town look very cool... but the system itself doesn't quite work properly...

By becoming a resident in this imaginary town, the piece lets you exchange messages on your mobile with other people about disasters and events that occur in the town. However, I couldn't send or receive any messages... Up to 1000 people can participate, and yet due to errors in the system, I was unable to interact with anybody during my turn… In the end, I couldn't experience the full potential of the game, but if I ever get another chance to play it again, I promise I'll record it and show it here.

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