SCANSCAPE   developed   by   the   duo   SCHNITT   (   Marco   Monfardini   and   Amelie   Duchow)   and   the   media   artist   Gianluca   Sibaldi   is   a site-specific audio /video installation based on an analysis of urban city life. The   technology   developed   by   the   artists   for   SCANSCAPE   permits   to   access   in   realtime   on   numerous   public   world   webcams   which undergo   a   continuous   scanning   process   towards   the   device   EXTRAscan,   a   sort   of   scanner   able   to   read   the   characteristics   of   the scanned cities converting them in sound and video images. An   urban   symphony   and   contemporary   reinterpretation   that   follows   the   city   life,   reflecting   its   characteristics   in   form   of   visual   and sound   perception.   Since   the   early   90s,   public   webcams   are   present   in   our   urban   city   life,   citizens   coexist   with   this   technological system that renders their life, their daily gestures, their movements public. SCANSCAPE    emphasizes    the    relationship    using    technology    as    a    creative    tool    by    designing    a    hypothetical    global    city    where questions,   doubts   and   fears   about   the   technological   invasion   harmonize   with   the   sharing   of   culture,   traditions   and   attitudes   conveyed by   technology   itself.   A   global   city   that   submits   its   diversity   to   a   process   of   continuous   analysis   expressing   its   existence   towards   sound as a universal language. The   installation   SCANSCAPE   aims   to   confront   ourselves   with   the   life   of   the   present,   offering   a   global   view   that   through   the   analysis of different world cities hypothesises a conscious coexistence between humanity and technology.

The   research   for   SCANSCAPE   carried   out   by   the   artists   has   been   developed   on   two   parallel   levels,   the   relationship   between   sound generation   and   physical   matter,   followed   by   the   development   of   EXTRAscan,   a   sensible   device   that   through   a   scanning   process recognizes and responds in real time to the physical characteristics of the scanned object. Alongside   EXTRAscan,   dedicated   to   the   sound   interpretation   of   data   and   video   processing,   for   the   realization   of   SCANSCAPE,   three software   applications   have   been   developed   by   the   artists,   one   allowing   the   connection   and   real-time   capture   of   public   webcams located    around    the    world,    one    dedicated    to    the    processing    and    communication    of    data    between    the    software    applications themselves,   and   a   virtual   director   allowing   the   eighteen   webcams   visible   on   the   screen   to   be   organised   and   selected   on   the   basis   of time zone, continents and countries. The   visual   result   of   SCANSCAPE   is   displayed   on   a   large   screen   and   the   sonic   outcome   is   sent   via   PA   system.   Based   on   the   urban accessibility, the artists plan to install some webcams in the city to ideally connect the local life with the world’s global life expression.