Site1_Interventions_Final

“We were here”
A Panorama







Click here for digital video

OBJECTIVE
The objective of the final exercise was to take my site and through a means (in this case digital photo manipulation), changing one object or concept within the site, from its original state, to “something else". I wanted to present 'virtual' installation of changing the balance between man and nature to create an altered state of nature vs. man.


The elements of nature and man made surroundings – the Kangaroo Point bridge, the walk ways, the buildings and apartments were removed initially and replaced with natural elements, such as foliage, cliffs and blue skies.

The method for this involved digital manipulation of images I had gathered over the five weeks of visiting my site. I wanted to represent the Kangaroo Point as photographed from the mangroves, and as 'found', not 'photographed'. I researched and gathered photographs of this location from 1858 – the first photographic recordings of the river. There are diarised accounts of what the Point looked like prior to this... I found this interesting on many levels, 1. 'recorded history' being so new 2. The camera only in use from 1850s 3. the photographs from 1860s onwards show all signs of urbanization, with very little of this diarised landscape visible. 4. how time lapse was recorded – through camera recordings, screen shots, digital photography, saved data, projected imagery. For this reason, I have toned the final image down, and ghosted out the 'man' element, but not completely removed... my experiences of the river are limited to photographic representations and written accounts of man's intervention with the river.

I thought very carefully about experimenting with the site in this way: I investigated physical vs. non-physical materiality, and came to the conclusion that where I had used projection in a previous exercise, would yield similar conceptual results. I experimented with software for the 'digital collage' and recording software.

Intention - the outcome is not meant to bye professional, however I did want the viewer to feel a postcard beauty – the panoramic nostalgic imagery you experience when someone sends you a note reminding the receiver, “I was here”... I was inspired by digital representations of history found in Museums as well as idyllic representations of these 'paradises' in postcards.

Museum and Reference Sites:
http://www.ourindooroopilly.com/oiogallery.html
http://www.brisbanehistory.com/photogalleryintro.html