NODEM 2014 Proceedings

Affective and Rhythmic Engagement with Archival Material: Experiments with Augmented Reality
Location of the tag: This tag was placed in a small gothic window on the side of the church. We cut it to fit into
the architecture, thereby making it seem like a window within the small arch (approximately 25 × 40 cm).
Visual effect: The camera angle of the video was unusual, seeming to come diagonally from above as if the
camera operator were standing on a ladder. The lighting was poor and there was no sound, but the absence of
steady cam, the low res image quality, and the proximity to the dancers made the material feel more intimate.
The dark lighting conditions made it feel a little spooky and mysterious, as if viewing through blurry the blurry
window of the layers of time. The darkness of the image did not impede the functioning of the AR browser but
enhanced the mysterious and spooky quality of the sequence. The image seemed almost holographic.
Participation effect: This tag caused much delight. Placed in viewing sequence after Kuindersma’s contemporary
dance improvisation, people were suddenly plunged into a different time period. At first there was an
acknowledgement on the part of the viewers that it was Classical Ballet, most likely archival footage from the
middle of the last century. Following this placement in time, their focus shifted to what they were seeing and
experiencing in the moment. Still getting used to the technology, the audience members had to work a little
harder to get the media to download, but once someone managed to get the video there was ripple of delight
as if to say ‘I did it’ and then a desire to help others achieve the same result. The discovery that the visuals
looked like a hologram came from one of the participants, not from one of the artists.
Rhythmic effect: There is normally a short delay while media downloads onto a device and a risk that a visitor
will quickly assume things are malfunctioning because technology is expected to be fast, seamless, and immediate.
It isn’t. Demonstrating a convergence of pragmatism and aesthetics, we tried to craft a slower engagement
with archival material. This meant slowing the rhythm of engagement, with powerful affective results.
The atmosphere became haunted and slow, and the tone of the overall experience gelled at this second tag.
Scene 3: The Postman
Archival Material: The video is from the Swedish Film Institute originating in 1949. 15 It is a story of an endearing
character, a Postman, who is a skilled dancer in the style of 1940s musical comedy. His antics show off his
considerable expertise, whether jumping off a train at a platform or breaking out of a dream while sleeping to
leap up and down on his bed with his pillows. All edits and layers come from the original footage.
The tag: We used two tags of approximately 80 × 40 cm, one of the Postman leaping with his legs outstretched
with a huge smile on his face (fig. 6) and the other of him jumping off a train (fig. 7).
Figure 6. The Postman tag nr 1. Video material from the
Swedish Film Institute
15
Post på hjul (1949), Script: Bo Bjelfvenstam, Egon Jonsson. Copyrights: Bo Bjelfvenstam. Source: Archive of the Swedish Film Institute
(http://www.filmarkivet.se/sv/Film/?movieid=153).
NODEM 2014 Conference & Expo
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