Luc Courchesne ::
The Visitor: Living by Numbers
An interactive panorama, 2001

interactive panorama
panoscope 360, data projector, microphone, 4 speakers
1,5 m [diameter] x 3,5 m [height]

The Visitor – Living by Numbers is inspired by Pier-Paolo Passolini's »Theorema« [1969] and by a dream Courchesne's daughter had when she was 10 years old. In the installation visitors find themselves somewhere in the Japanese countryside, as you watch a projected narrative around you:

1. Enter the dome and adjust the height until it feels comfortable
2. When the action stops, speak any number between one and twelve to indicate the direction you want to go or to show interest in people and what they have to say.

Exploring the territory, happening upon and entering a shelter, meeting and dealing with the inhabitants and gaining status within the group will define a visitor's experience. In the process of interaction, a visitor builds a position in the group that either will have him invited to take more place among the group, or gradually ignored and abandoned.
Interactive movies that implicate the spectator in a film plot are among the persisting dreams of the movie industry, but it still has not been realized in a commercially viable format. Luc Courchesne approaches this concept from a video artist's point of view with this interactive video panorama with its plot »directed« by visitors.

Cast ::
man 1 : YOKOYAMA – sense
man 2 : YAMAMOTO Shiro
man 3 : Wayne MACEDO
man 4 : Philippe CHATELAIN
woman 1: MIWA Ikuko
woman 2: MYOKAM Hiroko
woman 3: Virginie LAVEY
woman 4: MIWA Momoco

Production team:
written by Luc COURCHESNE and Blanche BAILLARGEON
director/producer: Luc COURCHESNE
production design: MYOKAM Hiroko
director of photography: Franco ZOCCALI
soun engineer: FUYAMA Tsuyoshi
coordination in Japan: MYOKAM Hiroko
systems for camera movement:
Luc COURCHESNE, Franco ZOCCALI, Robert McNABB, and André JETTÉ
system architekcur and design: Marc LAVALLÉE and Etienne DESAUTELS.
software programing: Etienne DESAUTELS
authoring: Luc COURCHESNE
imagecapture: Covitec
video editing: Luc COURCHESNE, Olivier LETARTE, Marc LAVALLÉE
sync sounddesign: Olivier LETARTE
ambiant sounddesign : Zack SETTEL
installation design: Luc COURCHESNE
assistant : Marijulie LAVIGNE

Special thanks to: Blanche BAILLARGEON, D'nardo COLUCCI, Jean GAGNON, Franklyn JOYCE, Victoria LYNN, SAKANE Itsuo, Monique SAVOIE, Pier-Paolo PASSOLINI, TAKAHASHI Yoko, Heath WATTS, Oka-san

With the support of The Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology, The International Academy for Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS), Université de Montréal and Société des arts technologiques (SAT)
Collection of the artist