My Secret Heart is a music and film installation & performance commissioned by Streetwise Opera with music composed by Mira Calix. Working with video artists Flat-e, we created visuals for the 48 minute performance, as well as versions for an installation and short film.

The visuals were created primarily with custom software written with C++/openFrameworks, with some Quartz Composer elements, rendered AfterEffects sequences and live action footage. The custom C++ app is audio-reactive and user-interactive, allowing the visuals to be 'performed' live with full control over the behaviour of the virtual inhabitants of the cylindrical aquarium-like rig.

Excerpts from the visuals (I recommend the HD version at http://vimeo.com/2131989):

Early tests of visuals on the 'aquarium' (rig built by Gaianova):

More stills and photos from the piece and performance can be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/tags/mysecretheart

Photos from Lucerne, Switzerland:

Stills from the piece:
(the short-wide strip along the bottom of the images is the full width of the visuals wrapped around the 16m circumference of the cylinder, while the top is closeup detail)

Initial AI/flocking and behaviour controlling tests with Processing:

Open-source technologies developed for this piece include..

A particle/physics engine (new version coming soon with record/playback as well as pluggable force-fields etc.):


A multi-dimensional spline interpolator:

and more coming soon...