Story Index: A Revolutionary Art Installation by Fundesign.tv

Blurring the Boundaries Between Reality and the Internet

The inspiration for Story Index was born out of the desire to create a viral sensation that would resonate with young people. The design team at Fundesign.tv recognized that people are constantly constrained by screens, with countless network signals and stories being updated around us 24/7. This led to the creation of a central art installation that would encapsulate this phenomenon.

What sets Story Index apart is its unique properties. The design team explains that the installation is a reflection of the interdependence between mobile phones and people. Each frame in the story is a "designed" picture, whether it's actively delivered, passively displayed, or interactively attracted. The giant screen matrix materializes the boundaries between reality and the Internet, reflecting the appearance of people's current lives. Your own life will be displayed in the story index, as well as the lives of others.

The realization of this design was a technical feat. The device is built around a series of television screens, complemented by video integration equipment and network integration equipment. The team designed an integrated system that simplifies management, from integrating community accounts to the input terminals for different videos on each television. They can monitor the back end, and after users upload content, they first screen out inappropriate content, then approve the content that has passed the review to be displayed on the front end.

The installation uses 100 televisions and a truss structure over 150 meters long to build a display space that is 20 meters wide, 10 meters high, and 20 meters long. At the same time, the device uses over 200 meters of network cable and HDMI cable combined. The design tags for this project include installation, Instagram, art, story, and index.

The Story Index was on display from September 30, 2022, to October 23, 2022, at the Design Zone Kaohsiung Port Warehouse No. 6 of the Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The design process involved online surveys and qualitative interviews with design students, professionals, and industry experts to explore the variety of designs in Taiwan. The creators of the STORY INDEX decided to center the exhibition around the life segments people share on social media, with a giant screen matrix as the focal point, amplifying public dialogue on the exhibition's themes.

The design team faced several challenges in realizing this project. One of the main technical challenges was enabling each television to play different signals. Through software design, they realized the possibility of outputting different signals on different ports, and the computer in the back end can meet the needs of reallocating or copying signals. Despite these challenges, the Story Index was awarded Silver in A' Interactive, Experiential and Design Installations Award in 2023, a testament to its innovative design and technical excellence.