Michelle Kranot and Julia Bracegirdle
Our goal has been to test this new cross-regional, cross-sectoral collaboration and lay the foundations for future international cross-media projects. We now know that this research will take a long time and many resources before we can create a true cross media product, however the dialog surrounding this research has sparked many new ideas and new collaborative efforts.
We launched a series of workshops, supported by Shareplay fund, in order to examine the possibilities of cross media collaborations. It was the first time that The Animation workshop and Carte Blanche have attempted to discover a new language which described both their different practice and pathways of dissemination. The collaboration with CultAR is a unique opportunity to dive deeper into what the cutting edge technology has achieved and what it can be utilised for in this new context of performance and exhibition.
We had various sessions which explored what each partner, in their respective and different fields of expertise has to offer – An interaction between technology, performers, sound, reactive animation, and projections.
The vibrating vest
The project is a series of Labs and workshops, inviting partners, our respective international networks, local companies and general public to participate and test new technologies. The outcomes of this research have been tremendously inspiring and have sparked a plan for long-term collaboration to develop these ideas further.
We set our goals very high and managed to achieve them within the limits of the time and resources. We discovered that the gaps in our vocabulary and in what we assume the other partners can do were greater than expected. We strongly believe that this research should be ongoing, and that in the short duration of the project, we have only unveiled the tip of the iceberg.
Testing the hat
We have been introduced to each other’s world and now must find a way to implement the ideas and deepen the collaboration. Since this research was in neither of the partners scope, we often struggled to understand each other’s professional jargon, taking allot of time to explain basic terms.
What we have learned:
We started with sessions with CultAR, The Animation workshop and Carte Blanche, where we each visited each other’s institutions. In addition we also invited scholars (Pictured above is Dr. Julia Bracegirdle) and local companies for demonstrations. Others attending demonstrations were members of Viborg communeCulture and Communication Departments, Audio visual companies and University researchers (science and technology) from Aarhus, Copenhagen and Stockholm. The reactions we have received so far from these experiments have been phenomenally positive.
CultAR team Aalborg
Vektormusik: The sound design consultants have done both demonstrations and advised us on how to integrate audio into the various concepts. We devised a showing and workshop of the latest technology in visual and audioscape/room design. Now all partners are eager to delve deeper into the possibilities presented to us. The possibility to work with audio signals, both in the wearable technology (vibrating pads build into a hat or a vest) and in manipulation of visuals was in fact highlighted by a Digital environment design workshop. The partners were introduced to new software and professionals form different disciplines could try out and “hands-on” both creating and manipulating visuals and images. Much of the workshop time was spend discussing the differences between our respective fields, and we all feel that this is the most valuable knowledge which we have gained throughout the entire project.
Vektormusik
We are now a step closer to bridging the gap and understanding the nature of cross media, in its truest sense.
We discovered that we each have very different time scales. Both Animation and technology development take allot of time and other, external resources, the biggest difficulty of this research project was that the duration was simply too short to engage, test and follow through with ideas. Many times we wished that we could spend some months refining the materials we could ‘bring to the table’.
We are proud and pleased to announce that we have broken new ground for ever one of the partners and are committed to proceed in the process of creating a new transmedia vocabulary, and a fresh approach to a hybrid, interdisciplinary art form. When the added value of the technology came in, we started to play with a new and truly interactive art form. We achieved our goal of exploring a virtual space as sculpture, rather than as a screen based narrative.
Carte Blanche team
We are thankful and excited to have had this opportunity, we have gained new insight and raised many questions in our ongoing research. Our teams have learned to work together differently and every one of the partners is determined to continue this unique collaboration and explore the possibilities in the future, both on a regional level and on a Eurpopean dimension.
