The advent of the printing press intellectually liberated mankind, yet it amputated the physical and experiential aspect to acquiring knowledge. For centuries, the relationship between the body and the printed word has been limited to the act of turning the pages. Computer technology has led to varying levels of control over the process of reading via experimental literature such as hypertext and hypermedia but the overwhelming majority of these new literary artefacts are experienced using the standard keyboard and mouse input devices which, in terms of physicality are no more embodied than the turning of a page.

Writing Place is an audiovisual interactive installation in which the participant’s motions are captured and mirrored back to them in the form of a projected collage of text, graphics and sound. The mood of this literary environment is controlled by the degree of movement of those who enter it. Interacting creates grammatically correct sentences that are chosen from a database of words, the tone of which is up to the user. These words are taken from one of the first widely distributed books, the Bible. By selecting words from the Bible the closed and autocratic nature of the book is addressed. The participant is invited to physically construct their own interpretation of religion, their own tangible reality.