Recapping on something mentioned in a previous blog post about being a narrative structure to a space and bringing a new experience to it. Done some perusing through Vimeo and came across a few examples for examination;
N.WAVES DIPTYCH by Peter Norrman & Leif Jordansson
Originally conceived as a work about the post glacial rebound and changing northern landscape of a 16 mile long coastal line, the soundscape and video created both a suggestive historic narrative and an ambient reflection of the soft and aggressive changes of this unusual landscape.
In this installation – n.waves – the manipulated video will further explore ideas of coastal landshift, the desolate expanse of the north, temporal changes and shifting movements in the nature and the landscape.
It’s a pretty mazing looking piece. At some points there’s some stereoscopic visuals have 2 perspectives of the same view, which works with the split image planes. Although the video doesn’t directly place you in the environment of the installation, the demonstration of the content laid out is important. I’m a big fan of symmetry and at certain parts with the mirrored images it creates the illusion of depth i feel. The piece uses 5.1. surround sound using a multitude of natural sounds and even some NASA archive recordings, and given a electronic run through, mixed with some orchestral music. The creators aimed to make this seem like a dialogue with a electronic soundscape, and i can sort of understand what they mean. It’s more than just an ambient track over some visuals, it keeps you engaged and interested with some of the ‘bleep-bloops’ almost matching up with the time-lapse footage as if it’s the sounds of that visual, in contrast, the more ambient parts syncing with the airy sense of other shots. The way it’s presented in and the change in pace at places makes it an interesting alternative to communicate a story of a coastline environment using a media format beyond a traditional documentary.
Wasteband by Patrícia Portela
This one is an interesting concept. Admittedly, from the video, i think i’m missing a chunk because of the language barrier. But the description does give me that insight;
Wasteband : strip of time that shapes your days, by extending the waiting moments instead of the action
ones, creating a bigger possibility of accidents and collateral effects in lives that have been over
programmed.
How can you be virtual without being digital?
Wasteband is a virtual performance for 1 astronaut/salesman, 1 musician, and 1 power point, where performers and spectators seat together around a table where vertical images are being projected.
Based on the coincidental fact that both a Chinese ritual and scientific theories prove that the moon will
soon fall on a beach full of frogs on the exact date we perform.
Following the anxieties of Sergei Krikalev at the Mir while waiting to be brought back to Earth, this is a
performance about waiting, wishing and wasting.
I’ll admit, I am reminded a bit of the War Room from Dr Strangelove a bit with the layout. Whether that’s intentional or not, i don’t know, but hey. The theme of the installation sounds amazing, that tie of science and mysticism, and it’s almost an artistic debate. I suppose this relates quite a bit to performance video, using people as part of the piece. And all the video content relevant to the piece.
SOL by http://www.the-product.org/
An interactive spatial installation staging the origin of solar energy.
In an immersive environment the principles of nuclear fusion can be experienced in a narrative and playful way.
Entering a bright and glistening corpus, the visitor experiences the darkness inside the Sun and watches the chaotic motion of Protons.
Interacting with the particles causes them to fuse and to produce energy which manifests as light bursts inside “the core” as well as a rising light level on the outside.
Making science fun! That narrative here is the process that happens for millennia inside a star. I recently watched ‘Wonders of the Universe’ by Brian Cox on the BBC and have a basic understanding what goes on inside a star and how all the particles on our planet were originally part of a star that went supernova trillions of years ago, X amount of lightyears away. It’s a forever repeating process that in the centre the atoms keep smashing together, combing and making new elements and then get thrown out across the cosmos. The way the piece works by physically walking into something representing the sun, and everytime on the inside when you create a particle makes the exterior flash gives the audience several perspectives of the same story in relation to where they’re standing and who’s doing the action, i find amazing. These alternative views on the same instance in one space is something not easily applicable in traditional film-making. It’s now in today’s ‘New Media’ age that using different methods of makign a moving image and sound we can create experiences that differ to each person.
Untitled [Bioacoustic Phenomenon] by Paul Prudence
The description;
a live generative cinematic exploration of sonically activated biological events, specifically evolving morphogenetic cellular entities that grow in response to sound vibrations. Out of a primordial hydrodynamic environment cellular life-forms develop and exhibit behavioural “intelligence” using sound as an organising principle and nourishing substance. Immersed in their sonorous habitat, plasmas fluctuate while chromosomal figures reverberate and divide according to their respective bio-resonant frequencies. In this sonic ecosystem, a synaesthetic biological narrative unfolds in relation to the development of specific audio modulations and vibrations.
Now, to be honest, that description sounds amazing. The video however, well, at the very least perhaps doesn’t do it justice. It’s an audio-reactive piece using the typical complicated software etc etc, but i just dont’ feel the visuals match up with the description. I mean, i get it, i can understa d how it works and what the visuals represent, but with such a grandiose statement, it’s a bit underwhelming. Having it projected onto one screen screen is too simple and in my opinion, it limits how people can interpret this; to some, it may be some pretty looking lights. I would’ve proposed using the space more or a different projection technique. And example could be using some magnification/macro way, considering it’s based around something on a cellular level. It’s that thing of crossing over from simple visual to something a bit more intricate to communicate something more complex…
Visuals at Smirnoff Experience ‘Graphic’ Party feat. Deadmau5 by mixMotion
The VIP industry party had a graphic novel theme and was entitled “Graphic”. The environment featured a comic book style narrative that followed guests from the street entrance into the party upstairs and reflected thier unfolding story throughout the night.
mixMotion’s contributions began from creative concept designs to final production. We created and projected custom animated comic panels for the large warehouse style windows. A custom designed projection screen was created in the style of a comic book panel for the DJ booth. Special lighting was designed to create the illusion of comic book shading on the guests and the enviroment.
A live Twitter feed was projected in one lounge area, where partygoers’ tweets would show up instantly on the wall, and a live drawing photo area was also set up using video projection to capture photographs of guests as if they were part of the comic. As the night went on and Deadmau5 took to the DJ booth, we VJ’d live on multiple areas, a rear-projection behind the DJ booth, ghostly sheer panels from the ceiling as well as onto the huge window panels that covered the entire south wall, creating an immersive atmosphere emphasizing the mood, colour and theme of the event.
I won’t lie, this pretty much has all the angles covered. Interactivity – twitter, photobooth. Narrative – graphic/comics. Projection techniques – Vjing, custom surfaces, etc. They were given the task of making an event unique with New Media and the result has become this great example of a Narrative Environment. Bringing the audience into the theme of the piece and giving the opportunity to interact as part of the narrative, whilst building up for the visual content for a performance definatly explores a who different avenue to story telling. Where as with film-making and other mainstream video methods, it’s all about sitting there and being told the story, with the only difference in immersion these days is making it 3d and bumping up the sound angles. The attempt at 4d by adding effects like wind and such to a film failed miserably, it’s a bit of a farce really. The open ended route of making the people part of the story is, in my opinion, going to become a more prevalent thing of the future. It’s becoming easier and more varied the methods of bringing digital media events to people, so it’s easy to speculate that say in 20 years time, it’ll be close to a everyday thing, as opposed to special occasions. If this does become the case, then yes, I’ll probably have a smug look on my face in a sort of “I told you so” way, but even smugger if i’m part of the developers of this era.
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