Cloudbox
2022, interactive installation, Stereo headphone
Sound and Concept by Kyrin Chen
Visual and Concept by Vi Trinh
Programmed by Ning Sun
A Steambao Collective Production
Cloudbox, 2021, Installation view
Cloudbox, 2022, Trailer
Cloudbox, 2022, stills
Cloudbox is a sound-focused interactive installation experimenting with differences in viewer interpretation and experience. The players navigate through different sound zones with arrow keys, and though they play the same game and see the same scenery the experience itself is entirely contingent on the viewer's interpretation, exposing the ability of sound to create nuance and interactivity.
The piece puts audiences in between disconcerting dichotomies - the duality of present serenity and past violences; the disorientation from both being in and out of control; the discombobulation between sight and sound; the philosophical demarcation between video games and art. While breaking the traditional hierarchy in sensory experiences, the work continues the poignant social commentary of Susan Sontag - that art serves both as a source of catharsis or spiritual enlightenment, and as a mouthpiece of war propaganda or military recruitment.