Interactive installation Rene Beekman and Albena Baeva (Photo: Ivan Peykov)
Aya / Ая
2016
Interactive installation
Rene Beekman and Albena Baeva
(Photo: Ivan Peykov)

Aya / Ая

Aya is an interactive installation, created out of discarded technology. It uses an old webcam and facial recognition algorithms to try to make “eye contact” with the visitor. When it does, it starts reciting fragments of texts by Serbian writer Milorad Pavić, turning them into a monologue of unrequited love.

Aya by Albena Baeva and Rene Beekman at Малки забавни създания, installation view close-up at Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia, in April 2016 (Photo: Ivan Peykov)
Aya by Albena Baeva and Rene Beekman at Малки забавни създания, installation view close-up at Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia, in April 2016 (Photo: Ivan Peykov)
Aya by Albena Baeva and Rene Beekman at Малки забавни създания, installation view at Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia, in April 2016 (Photo: Svetoslav Kovatchev)
Aya by Albena Baeva and Rene Beekman at Малки забавни създания, installation view at Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia, in April 2016 (Photo: Svetoslav Kovatchev)

Aya / Ая from Rene Beekman on Vimeo.

Code

The code for Aya was written in [Processing]. The main draw() function is centered around an if loop that reads like a love affair.

The main function in the Processing code for Aya by Albena Baeva and Rene Beekman (2016)
The main function in the Processing code for Aya by Albena Baeva and Rene Beekman (2016)