Stoney Roads: How did SquidSoup come to be? Can you explain what Squidsoup is for those who might not know?

Squidsoup: Sure. We started up in London’s Shoreditch in the late 90s, attempting to make some of the hype surrounding new media become reality. We are now a loose collective of like-minded people working together on a range of digital media art projects. Much of our work tries to get beyond the screen, to break down that barrier between the real and the virtual. Most of what we do is about creating immersive (and interactive/responsive) experiences and installations.

SR: Your installations are large scale and quite interactive, how was the concept for this style of installation formed?

SQ: We first suspected that large arrays of controllable lights could be used to create large scale immersive experiences around 2007. We started quite small and gradually increased in size until the spaces filled rooms and could be walked within. By using people tracking as the main form of interaction, and mapping virtual spaces directly onto the physical (in some ways the approach is a type of 3D projection mapping), we found the interaction could be made intuitive and simple to grasp.

Above all, by letting people into the light space, the light becomes an environment rather than an object, to be seen from inside as well as from outside.

SR: You’re working with Four Tet currently, as well as Purity Ring. Both acts are quite powerful in live performance. What drew you to working with Four Tet?

SQ: They are both wonderful, and very different. Four Tet’s latest album, Morning/Evening, consists of two long meandering and slowly evolving tracks. There was an instant fit to our own abstract visual fields. We wanted to see how the lighting system we used for installations could work on stage with live music – this was, for us, the perfect opportunity.

SR: Was their much interaction by Four Tet in the curation of the light show?

SQ: We had a discussion, and he was very clear he wanted to work at the potential for serendipity in the live event. Nothing too heavily tied or synched, everyone free to improvise on the night. So the visuals were inspired by the music mainly rather than any specific requirements by Four Tet.

(Four Tet live at the ICA from Future Sun Films on Vimeo. Visuals and installation by Squidsoup)

SR: In your opinion, how important are the visual and interactional aspects as well as the sound in dance music.

SQ: We’re visual artists and interaction designers so naturally we’re going to say it’s vital.

It certainly adds to the experience, and I guess as live experience is becoming ever more important, there’s a prominent role for the visual arts to play in that.

SR: Your installations are going to be showcased in Sydney’s most famous venue, the opera House. How did you react to hearing that?

SQ: Hahahaha!!! We are totally excited to be here!

SR: From footage I have seen from your installations, they’re quite interactive for the crowd. Will this be the case in The Opera House, even with the enormity of the venue?

SQ: The Opera House is a different space to the venues we have worked with Four Tet at before. It’s difficult to make an interactive experience when the audience is sitting down. So we are focusing more on the immersive potential, the visual possibilities, and trying to create an experience that combines the digital 3D imagery produced by the lights with the awesome physical space of the Opera House.

SR: Are their any other artists in the dance music world that Squidsoup would love to collaborate with?

SQ: We are open to any interesting collaborations. There’s a lot of amazing music out there, we’re very keen to broaden our palette, working with anything from dance, minimal techno, contemporary classical or even opera to explore the potential of our approach at creating moods, atmospheres and evocative experiences.