Viewers interact directly with the artwork by sending it a short text message from their mobile. Once received, the SMS is scanned for frequently used words and, when a match is found, the four elements are activated. The main piece, “Rapper” begins to twist and wave his hand while mouthing a rap based on the message sent, the new lyrics culled from more than 130 different hip hop phrases written by Amsterdam-based lyricist and composer Jim Barnard. The rest of the piece is simultaneously set into motion: “Boom Box” starts flashing and blasting out the song while “Joy Ride” a bouncing low-rider, and “Shake Ass” (looks like it sounds) begins to move, triggered by ambient sound sensors. When the song is finished, a thermal printer spits out a souvenir with the original SMS and the words of the “Rapper”.

Pretty cool!

On a personal note, my 12 year old is disgusted that someone of my age likes Jay Z. Check out the fabulous Collision Course. I also like DJ Dangermouse’s mash up of The Beatles’ White Album and Jay Z’s Black Album – the Grey Album, which EMI are currently trying to ban. They won’t be able to, of course, as it’s on all the file sharing networks. Gotta keep the lawyers busy, I suppose.