Samples of the Ghats

From Rhizome Artbase
2006
Description

Samples of the Ghats is an interactive installation that invites the audience to recreate the ghats of Haridwar, India. Visitors recompose the atmosphere by triggering audio and visual samples that were originally collected at the ghats.

Rhizome staff
2021

"Samples of the Ghats" is an interactive installation that invites its audience to re-create the ghats of Haridwar/India. Visitors re-compose its atmosphere by triggering locally collected audio and visual samples. This aims at exploring new forms of narrative.

Philippe Chollet
11 April 2006

A 5 metres long structure framed with technology features a panorama of an ancient indian city. Intriguing, it acts like a magnet, an appeal to curiosity and exploration.
Cruising along the panel the visitor soon discover that he can “play it”. With the simple move of his hands he launches media sequences. They are audio and visual samples, pieces of Haridwar, collected and edited in a way to generate an atmospheric feel of the ghats.
In a collective experience, the panorama comes to life and the adventure can begin...


/ Research /
“Here it is about exploring sensitive ways of delivering the information.
On the content:
The elements displayed are audio and visual samples of the Haridwar/india. They were selected and edited because of their particular role in the social aspects of the Ghats. No comments on them, they appear and produce their effect as you interact with the installation.The result is a sensorial virtual unreality journey into the Ghats.
On the narrative:
Interacting with the installation, the audience determine their journey. Therefore, narrative significantly bonds to interaction.
There are 2 levels of interaction. The first is individual, when each visitor launches audio and visual sequences. The second is collective, indeed you share what others have triggered, you also physically interact with them as the cruise along the panel with you.
On the message:
Rather than delivering a message through logic it operates on the level of emotion, thus being a sensorial gate to a city and its culture.


/ Tech /
Reports/Clips :
Using a Nikon CoolPix 5M pixels camera for stills
Using a Canon MV500i for video
Content :
Layouts were designed in Photoshop
The clips were edited in premiere and imported in Flash
All flash files were converted into avi format and compressed to be exploitable in Max MSP Jitter.
Structure :
Alluminium structure
Rear projection screen
10 Infra-red detectors Interface-Z
2 analogics Interface-Z
2 Projectors
2 Sound Cards Hercule 16/12fw
2 Midi Sport 1x1 interface
10 set of creative speakers

Philippe Chollet
11 April 2006
Metadata
Variant History
outside link
static files
11 April 2006
cloning
Rhizome staff