Rosco Spectrum: De Bastei is a centre for natural and cultural history located in the town of Nijmegen, Netherlands. While excavating for an expansion, the centre discovered archaeological remains of the town buried underneath the building. The project shifted to transform that newly-discovered, subterranean area into a museum that would convey the 2000-year-old history of the town. They hired the creative agency Studio Louter and spatial designers OPERA-Amsterdam to develop an interactive exhibition entitled, Tastbaar Verleden (Tangible Past) .
3 comments:
I really liked reading baou their process of using a grid to help map out the placements of the text in order to keep them from distorting too much. I also find it really interesting when places take old archeological sites and uses projections on them. The combination of ancient world and present day technology is really pleasing when executed well. The projections in the article remind me of the projections that I saw being used in an underground exhibit of an ancient town in Europe, I think it was in france. The underground feeling was pretty similar to the one in the article, though the projections were a little less complex. Another one this reminds me of is a cave I went to when I was visiting China. When you’re walking through the cave, there isn’t so much in terms of projections, but they had a plethora of colored lights that highlighted the organic structures within the cave, as well as color changing ones that made the ceiling feel as though it was almost living. In one of the main caverns, they had dancers projected on one of the walls just beyond a bluely lit pool of water, as well as a historical timelapse throughout the ages projected onto the ceiling. These moving projections were fascinating. While I’m not the biggest fan of using projections in theatre, I think that the use of them in exhibits and environments is really entertaining and can be incredibly effective.
I really enjoyed reading this article. The mix of old and new in order to tell a story is a really wonderful concept, and from the photos, it looks like a pretty successful partnership. The use of "projection mapping techniques – for both their digital projections and their traditional gobo projections...onto the uneven surfaces of the archaeological remains" is a powerful image, and clearly effective in its intent to "engage visitors with the town’s ancient history." I really like this technique too because it isn't damaging to anything historic, and it also allows exhibits to be adjusted and modified without having to really haul in major gear. Sure set-up and mapping would need to be adjusted, but the historic site remains much the same. I like that this instillation really considered how to best optimize the visitor experience by trying to hide the projectors and tech, and by placing the fixtures "behind the visitor," the exhibit is able "to optimize the appearance of the projected image and minimize the visual impact of the projectors themselves." Having these images and text appear in an organic fashion I think helps lend to the power and effectiveness of this pairing.
This article initially grabbed my attention because of how little I know about projections. All I know about it what I have seen here on productions with media designers. And I have watched some designers struggle with getting their images to come out as sharp as they would like when projecting on an uneven surface. I remember during Medea/ Shulie the designer and engineers from media were so frustrated that some of the text was becoming garbled because it was projected on the carpet that was lifted up. It is good to know that there is technology out there that can help alleviate this concern. How this technology is currently being used is wonderful; being able to have information available for visitors of archeology without having to hammer in a stake for a sign, or try to attach a plaque somewhere is quite the opportunity. I am really glad that this is happening!
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