Noisy tables and enthralling journeys in The Art of Motion and Traces at The Public

Exhibitions: The Art of Motion; Traces, The Public, West Bromwich, until September 9 2012

Immersive art doesn’t come much more exciting than a film setting you as the star, powered by your own movements via pedals.

That very concept, dreamed up by Steve Chamberlain in his Cyclomation 2 installation, is exactly the idea of a custom-built machine in this show, promising nothing less than an “enthralling” journey.

Chamberlain’s heist is part of Art of Motion, a series of interventions linking the public with cutting-edge technology at The Public this summer.

In other works, Noisy Table does exactly what it says on the mini-tramlines by allowing a table tennis table the gift of playing music reflecting every audience wrist flick, augmented by two picture shows featuring a whirl of motion-themed films and various photographs of local punters in flight.

There’s a similar luck-out for interactivity fans in Traces, where you can create your own abstract images and sounds by being “visualised” into ribbons and particles across the exhibition space, courtesy of a little help from a depth-sensing camera and some cunningly-tweaked software.

“It is an engaging performance piece that places people into the role of an audio-visual composer,” says James Alliban, a designer and artist who has been part of the team behind Traces, calling it “an alternative vision of the body”.

“It adopts the themes of creativity, discovery and play which permeate the gallery.”

Alliban is in good company: his co-conspirators on this high-tech playground are Nexus Productions, last seen earning Grammy nominations for Franz Ferdinand videos, a Film Grand Prix award in Cannes for their Honda commercial and awards for a Coca-Cola commercial based on rampaging video game Grand Theft Auto.

• Open Wednesday-Saturday 10am-5pm (11am-3pm Sunday). Admission free.

Watch the video of Noisy Table: