Jonas Vorwerk Pixel Player

Below you"ll find a interview between by artist Jonas Vorwerk and I.

So Jonas, let me just say I became fascinated with Yoren Schriever's and your work Pixels when I saw them for a split second online. Then I saw the video of them. It's just a great colorful idea that mixes video games with reality. On another level I could see the Pixels being something consumers would want to buy. I also like you can shake them or turn them over and they"ll change color. The pixels are also waterproof and strong enough to support some weight.

Jonathan: So where did you get the idea to make them?

*Reminder Jonas' home language is Dutch , so some answers might not be so coherent.

Jonas: As an digital artist I'm always searching for digital things in an analog world or the other way around. As for Pixels, we look and watch to screens and Pixels everyday. Big slogans of the more the better appear in like every gadget store. What if we could peel those pixels of those screens and place them in the real world. What will happen?

What background knowledge and talents do you have to create them? Did you create them all your self or have to deal with a bunch of companies to make them?

I'm more the conceptual person behind the project and Yoren is the Arduino wizard. He knows how to prototype so this is what we did. He made a small prototype, and we worked it out on a larger scale. After we had one working we made 50 of them. Now one year later we developed our own software and hardware. 

Any plans for people being able to buy them?

This could be the next step, we are working on this. 

Why do they change color?

Each Pixel color can be changed by tilting it. See it as a hue circle in Photoshop where the mouse is a virtual ball. Tilting the Pixel would roll the ball to and different color range. 

I think it's great they can become furniture like the chair in the video, what's some other designs people have come up with?

We exhibited last year on the major Dutch media festivals and almost every time people come up with something new. Gradients, words, castles, arrows, chairs you name it. 

How much fun was it to let kids try them? I see in the pictures of your site you went to a primary (elementary) school with them.

If kids can work with it the interface is good. The kids love those pixels!

How have video games influenced your work?What are your favorite types of games? Are you a gamer? What's your favorite video game of all time? Your near some video game developers, do you hang out with them?

Never thought of this so not particularly. But as a kid I played a lot of games started at the first personal computers, the ones with like one color (amber) screen. Ms dos a:|\ outrun, alley cat, Prince of Persia, empire, dune .. still got a bunch of floppy's laying around. At the time one of my favorite was Empire, the war game, pre-dune, pre c&c. 

Now your  Lightbox Sequencer and Windorgel show you care for music? Why create these musical/audio visual creations?

Because I love electronic music, check my dj alias: www.soundcloud.com/beatnologic I try to put this as much as I can in my work. The Lightbox Sequencers are big drum sequencers where I invite the public to jam with each other. 

You've worked with many businesses, what was your favorite style of work  you've done ?

I'm and artist, interactive designer and dj, I love it all!