An image of PERFORMER, an installation by Adam Frank.
An image of PERFORMER, an installation by Adam Frank.
An image of PERFORMER, an installation by Adam Frank.

Commissioned by the Times Square Alliance,
New York NY, 2011

Re-commissioned by the Tate Modern & MERGE Art Festival
London, 2015

A diagram of PERFORMER, an installation by Adam Frank.

PERFORMER is an interactive installation in which a simulated audience applauds for people lit by a bright spotlight. The installation uses a real-time simulation and movement sensor to produce an illusion that reverses the traditional relationship between viewer and subject. People feel as if a real, 500-member audience is applauding just for them.

The enthusiasm of the virtual crowd increases with movement of the viewer in the spotlight. If the viewer is still, the virtual audience calms and eventually goes silent except for an occasional cough or clearing of the throat. Viewers ‘perform’ in their own way and this elicits different behavior from the virtual audience.

PERFORMER was installed in Times Square NYC for The Times Square Alliance and in London for Merge Festival, sponsored by the Tate Modern.

Development of PERFORMER was supported by The New York Foundation for the Arts, Joan Tanzer, Gerald Frank, Kitty Jones and The Connell & Colebrook Foundation.

Times Square Alliance
1560 Broadway
New York, NY 10036 USA

and

The Tate Modern
Bankside
London SE1 9TG, UK