Water of Memory
Work Overview
This location, which functioned as a coal port since the late 17th century, turned into a heap of rubble due to World War II. The remaining wall stands as an object within the park(Saarbrücken, Bürgerpark Hafeninsel). A performance was conducted at this location on July 20, 2023, at 10:00 PM. Through AR content created on TikTok, the scenery being filmed transforms into a floating sphere in the sky. The wall, standing here longer than any person, the wall that experienced war, the wall that overcame various circumstances and continues to exist to this day. What will we feel before this wall? What I always saw on TikTok was “somewhere that’s not here.” In this work, the audience’s consciousness returns to the reality of “here” through their own TikTok account. The reflection of water enchants this night with magic. Memories are something we dredge up. Without a trigger, we cannot recall. The shimmer of water tickles our memories.
Production Method
I developed a program using Arduino to create ripples on the water surface (generated waves through a fountain, controlled the timing of the water surface with switches). There are three flashlight light sources directed at the water surface. The AR filter was created using TikTok Effect House (judges the sky and makes soap bubbles appear only in the air. Developed a program to project the footage captured by the smartphone onto the soap bubbles in real-time).
TikTok AR Effect Filter (Only usable on smartphones): [https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSLmdM2wr/]