Interactive Media installation for kissing.
Retretti Art Center, Punkaharju 2001
The Kissing Bridge was part of the Retretti Art Center’s summer 2001 exhibition program. The bridge installation was built in the Retretti caves, where large spaces for showing contemporary art have been made into the Finnish rock. It is a part of a series of works by Andersson aimed at spreading the feeling of “love is all around you” into a world.
Visitors could walk over the lip shaped bridge, covered with light bulbs; taking the shapes of a red heart, a yellow candlelight and a blue tear. On the center of the bridge you stop and push the button at the same time as you kiss or hug your partner (or just send a smile to the world if you are there by yourself).
The picture of the kiss, taken by a web cam, was sent in real time to the Bridge’s web site. The picture was updated when the next pair kissed and pushed the button. On the same web site you could also see another screen with a picture of the whole bridge installation, which was updated every 10th second.
At the Retretti info desk there were two computers, from which visitors could find their own kiss and e-mail it to himself or herself or to a friend.