Place-Hampi

The interactive installation »Place-Hampi« represents an innovative model for the rendering of cultural experiences: Implemented for Jeffrey Shaw’s environment »PLACE«, the project centers on the cultural heritage site Vijayanagara [Hampi] in the south of India, and exemplifies future ways of making cultural heritage digitally accessible to user’s by new modes of capturing and presenting characteristics of such sites in a participatory way.
At the center of a projection screen measuring 9m in diameter, the user can control a motorized platform. According to his respective position, he can explore the ancient site captured by means of high-resolution stereoscopic panorama photographs enriched by ambisonic sound. Combined with this scenery are narrative events enacted by computer animated characters based on the mythologies specific to the site. Thus the viewer can interactively experience the history and the present of this unique place.

Credits:

Authors: Sarah Kenderdine, Jeffrey Shaw
with John Gollings, Paul Doornbusch, Paprikaas Animation Studio and Dr L Subramaniam

Written and produced by: Sarah Kenderdine, Jeffrey Shaw
Photography: John Gollings, Sarah Kenderdine, Jeffrey Shaw
Ambisonic recordings and materials: Paul Doornbusch, Doron Kipen
Audio integration: Paul Doornbusch
Compositions: Dr L Subramaniam
Computer graphics and animation: Paprikaas Animation Studio, Bangalore
Video: Surendra Kumar, Save Hampi Trust
Stereoscopy consultant: Paul Bourke

»PLACE« concept: Jeffrey Shaw
»PLACE« application software: Adolf Mathias
»PLACE« engineering: Huib Nelissen

Archaeological advisors and facilitators: George Michell, John Fritz, Archaeological Survey of India
Permits and fieldwork facilitation: Archaeological Survey of India, Indian Archaeological Department Inspector [Karnataka Circle] S V P Halakatti
Fieldwork logistics: Sarah Kenderdine

MOCAP studio: Sina Azad
MOCAP dance sequence [Shiva as Nataraja]: Lingalayam Dance Company
Artistic director/ choreographer: Anandavalli
Dancer: Saipriya Balasubramaniam

Co-produced by: lille3000; Epidemic, Paris [F]; UNSW iCinema Centre, Sydney [AUS];
Museum Victoria, Melbourne [AUS]; ZKM | Karlsruhe [D]; Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne [AUS]; Gollings Photography, Music and Effects [AUS].


About the authors:

Jeffrey Shaw
[* 1944, Melbourne, AUS], founding director of the ZKM | Institute for Visual Media and of the iCinema Research Centre, Sydney [AUS] ranks among the pioneers of interactive media art. His works have been presented worldwide at major museums and festivals.
Already in the 1960ies, Shaw created participatory environments that allowed the viewer to become an active part of the work. Later computer technology expanded his dynamic and architectural spatial models, and led to the exploration of new concepts of virtual reality using historical models of immersive image spaces in his installations and environments.
A further important topic of Jeffrey Shaw’s work is the field of interactive digital cinematography and new forms of interactive narration.


Sarah Kenderdine
trained as a maritime archaeologist and museum curator. Since 1994, she has designed digital environments for cultural institutions. She is coordinator of special projects and project manager for »The Virtual Room« at Museum Victoria and a director for the Virtual Heritage Network and the International Society of Virtual System and Multimedia.
Her recent publications include »Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage. A Critical Discourse« [co-edited with Fiona Cameron].


John Gollings
[*1944, Melbourne, AUS] was trained as an architect at the University of Melbourne and ranks among Australia’s leading architectural photographers. His work has been widely published in magazines and exhibited worldwide and is also part of the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Besides the architecture of Australia, the buildings of various different cultures like the Islamic world or India are an important topic of his work.

Paul Doornbusch
[*1959, Melbourne, AUS] is a composer, sonologist, and performer working with algorithmic composition systems for traditional instruments and electronics. After studying music in Melbourne with Barry Conyngham, he studied and worked in Europe for eight years with composers such as György Ligeti and Luciano Berio and later taught at the Royal Conservatory of Holland. His work has been presented in concerts throughout the world.