Interactive installation created in collaborations between MMEx, CAVI at the University of Aarhus and in cooperation with the Cultural History Museum in Randers.
The video above documents and explains an interactive installation which is currently on display at the Cultural History Museum in Randers, Denmark. While I originally found reference to this work on Gizmodo, there is also a wonderful write up on the piece available at the CAVI website.
As described on the CAVI website "Once a spectator approaches the stone, it immediately lights up and becomes a canvas for the narration. The first part of the sequence is an animation telling the dramatic story of Eskil and Thore, who drowned during a violent storm. The second part simulates the runes being carved by Eskil’s father, Åne, followed by a sequence of various effects that illustrate the passage of time and the different seasons. Eventually, the stone cracks and reveals the runes in flames."
This installation is very successful in engaging a museum patron with the story and personal meaning an artifact over 1000 years old. Here the juxtaposition between possible presentations, multimedia verses the more traditional use of an index card (or even a pre-recorded audio tour) presents a clear signpost pointing towards the future of multimedia design, application, and utility. Anyone involved in the crafts of storytelling who is interested in the use of multimedia should find a wealth of inspiration from this project. Through the narrative and interactive elements of the installation, the runic stone is given a performative life and spirit. The artifact now extends its influence beyond the mind and into the body of those interacting with it.
A few posts back I was contemplating the need of advanced projection techniques and other technologies in a production. I even quoted Lori Anderson asking if the world even needs another multimedia show. While this is an installation and not a multimedia show, it is a wonderful example of how the use advanced multimedia techniques can be directly utilized in the service of storytelling and revitalizing a personal connection with the content of a story. This work can directly inform theatre practitioners, as well as installation artist, and museum curators.
We are living in a time such as when Wagner and Adolpha were developing the use of light in the theatre. I strongly believe that the great new vocabularies and possibilities in performance and story telling are hiding within known technology and are slowly being revealed in the folds of work such as this interactive runic stone.
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Also of note from the CAVI website is this piece: Big Shadow
I am running out of time this morning to blog further, but I feel as though it is worth pointing out as it incorporates live performance, digital augmentation of shadow, and a web-presence aspect that are very intriguing. This work, as well as the interactive runic stone are very inspiring to me and directly speak to my core interests as a director, designer, and performance creator.
1 comment:
Hi there Alex, nice post!
I just spent twelve days in the heartland of Sweden, within ten miles of Rökstenen, one of the most famous rune stones in the world. I will go back to the area in the summer, if I can, and investigate it all properly. I love being around them, looking at them, just sitting near the ancient runes. Something about them has always fascinated me deeply, and we learned to read and write runes in school, so it's a fun part of my childhood.
Nothing more here really, but I loved your post, and think you're doing excellent work over there. The piece is very interactive, and you bring up excellent points about the new era of creating a language and uses of interaction in storytelling, much as the lighting techniques we now take for granted. Will somebody take our work for granted once it has become the norm, if it does? I doubt that it will, but it's an interesting thought.
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