Disruptive Critters

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BACKGROUND Disruptive Critters (DC) is an interactive hybrid audiovisual artwork for live performances and gallery installations designed by Dr Jonathan Duckworth in collaboration with sound artist and composer Dr James Hullick. Disruptive Critters explores digital disruption through the theatrical performativity of artificial intelligent computer generated agents, interactive media and sound design. Popular artists and musicians have developed interactive audio-visual applications such as Björk: Biophillia (Snibbe et al, 2012), Bloom (Eno & Chilvers, 2008) to explore generative music making and visuals through user interaction. In DC, audiences use a multi-touch tabletop console to create the virtual critters, which roam the virtual performance space. The critters, each with their own sound world and gestural repertoire, become autonomous co-performers, interacting with players and with each other in seemingly unpredictable ways. CONTRIBUTION DC contributes to media art and performance practice that emerge from the convergence of virtual environments, artificial intelligence, sound and interactivity. Dr Duckworth was responsible for designing the user interactivity, the visual design and animated movements of the Critter avatar; Dr Hullick developed the sound design; Ross Eldridge visual software and AI; Casey Rice audio software. SIGNIFICANCE DC is supported by an Arts Project grant funded by the Australia Council for the Arts (AUD 35,000) and Creative Victoria VicArts grant (AUD 27,000). Disruptive Critters was competitively selected by the Sónar festival for exhibition at the Market Lab, Fira Montjuïc, Barcelona, 14-17 June, 2017. Sónar is the International Festival of Advanced Music and Congress of Technology and Creativity, celebrated in Barcelona every June. More than 5500 professional delegates participated in this years Sonar +D event. DC featured in the El País Spanish media news video as part of an article Sonar 2017: a festival that looks to the futu