One of the projects I have in mind while I’m here in Oslo on my Fulbright grant, is to project video images on one of the extant Viking ships at the Viking Ship Museum. Professor Jan Bill, Curator of the Collection at the museum, and I are going to do some sample projections with this video! The ships are rather dark, so who knows how it will work. But there is only one way to find out. Alternatively – this was Jan’s idea – we could project video on the walls, which are smooth and very light-colored. Moving images on the walls might be more effective in producing the illusion that the ship is moving, although I have to admit I am quite enamored with the idea of projecting upon a ship.
This video contains aerial images that I took over the Canadian arctic on the way to Europe in August, along with forest imagery from the Cascade Mountains in Washington, and the Rockies in Idaho. I have also included some images of the wake of a ferry in the Oslo Fjord on the way out to Langøyene, which is small island, and some glacially scoured bedrock on the same island. I layered the images using the green screen feature on iMovie, which is an amazing tool. Yet before I become too enamored with my (limited) technical prowess, I need to remind myself that the images need to create meaning. Any sequence tends to make a story, but I’m not sure how explicit I want to be. These abstracted video images remind me of the paintings I used to do, with layers of organic patterns and rich colors. Those paintings were about experiences in nature (at least I think that’s what they were about). Now, I want to convey the idea of the voyage, using the ship as a carrier for the images. I see the projected imagery as representing memories or past experiences (and I am not sure there is a difference between the two). However, I am not interested in creating something that is kind of historical record, I want the projections, in concert with the ship, to allow an audience to create new experiences for themselves. Perhaps persons will reflect on their own journeys, and where they’ve been and what they would like to do. I don’t want to demand that anyone has a particular reaction, but I am hoping for an emotional response, even if it is subtle – what we could call a feeling.