9.3 Innovative Practices in Cultural Heritage
Tracks
Track 3
Wednesday, June 26, 2024 |
3:30 PM - 5:30 PM |
Plaza P7 |
Speaker
Dr Nancy Mauro-Flude
Autoluminescence Institute | RMIT University
FP: Heritage Frontiers in Computational Media Art: The Oceanic Provenance of Permacomputing and Codework
3:30 PM - 3:55 PMAbstract
This paper explores how culturally distinctive minimal computational art practices open up spaces for emergent alterities that more accurately align with the innovative landscape of the Oceanic region. It argues for the necessity of future literacies, focusing on the potential of radically sustainable computing (Heikkilä 2020) and text-based forms of computa-tional poetics (Tenen 2017) to raise awareness of context-based social, material, and ecological relations. Drawing on feminist digital heritage studies and philosophers of technology (Doruff 2006; Gibbs 2011; Cam-eron, 2021; Dekker, 2023), the discussion analyses post-patriarchal computer subcultures and surveys media art emerging from the southern hemisphere. It compares and contrasts (implicit or explicit) intentions for efficacy to nurture a more holistic integration of technology, art, and culture. It examines the provenance of codework poetics to demonstrate how self-determined cultural inheritance can transcend digital colonial logic. A close examination of the provenance of codework poetics demonstrates how self-determined forms of cultural inheritance can reshape and transcend the restraints of digital colonial logic. The analy-sis highlights the significance of informal communities of art practice that engage in experiential forms of digital literacy, which can attract a more diverse range of constituents—describing the ways in which ‘Big Tech’ is enmeshed in colonial imperatives, driven by the accumulation of capital and unsustainable computing emissions. It critiques the de-pendence on 'Big Tech' partnerships witnessed in the uptake of the digital in art museums as seamless, immersive experiences, which procure audience engagement and optimisation through glib forms of instant gratification and token exploits. The findings offer insights for navigating future heritage paradigms within computational media art, advocating for context-grounded experiential learning and reciprocal economies of digital heritage.
Biography
Dr Nancy Mauro-Flude is a critical media theorist and digital caretaker who emphasises the value of errant encounters with living systems in the epoch of cultural automation by exploring the potential of divination techniques. Her raison d'etre proposes the spiritual undertaking necessary for holistic future scenarios. She has cooperated in cross-cultural art milieus for two decades across five continents and has been commissioned to exhibit at Transmediale, Berlin; Ghetto Biennale, Port au Prince; among others. Recent publications include: The Thorny Conversation of Art and Economy (2023) Chicago; Computabilities Dancing (2023) Leonardo MIT; Writing the Feminist Internet (2021) Continuum; Performing with the Aether (2019) Routledge Handbook of Media Art. Nancy’s artwork is featured in collections and archives, such as the ISEA, SIGGRAPH, National Portrait Gallery Australia, and the Cyberfeminist Index. She lectures and is elected member of the Digital Ethnography Research Centre at RMIT University. Nancy is represented by Bett Gallery.
Dr. Miles Thorogood
Assistant Professor
The University of British Columbia
FP: The Sensual Experience of Waterways Immersive Exhibition: Applying the Visual Matrix Evaluatory Method
3:55 PM - 4:20 PMAbstract
This paper describes the sensory and emotional responses provoked by “Waterways: Past, Present and Future,” an immersive digital exhibition exploring human water relations in the Okanagan valley in Canada. It posits that the exhibition transcends traditional digital media displays, creating a deeply embodied and visceral interaction with the theme of water through sight, sound, and suggested tactility. Applying the visual matrix evaluator method, we discern that the exhibition captures the profound sensory engagement of participants, highlighting how the exhibition facilitates access to the emotional and cultural significances of water. We find that the exhibition not only amplifies the sensory experience of visitors but also resonates with Indigenous epistemologies that celebrate the interconnectedness of life and the holistic acquisition of knowledge. The findings illustrate that Waterways acts as a sensory catalyst that evokes a deeper cognitive and emotional awareness of water’s centrality in ecological and cultural continuums. The paper underscores the value of sensual ethnography in environmental understanding and the integration of Indigenous perspectives in contemporary museology, advocating for an enriched, inclusive dialogue on immersive exhibition design and evaluation.
Biography
Dr. Aleksandra Dulic is the Director of the Center for Culture and Technology and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, in Canada. Her research centres creating interactive systems and experiences that bring local, cultural and communal resources to the forefront. Lines of inquiry include developing learning context and experiences using game play as a device for sustainability awareness grounded in local ecology; interactive installation with multi-channel audio-visual displays that enable the creation of complex community images; and interactive systems and animated projection experiences that are staged and performed live.
Ms Maria Correia
Phd Candidate
UBC
Co-presenter
Biography
Maria Correia is a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program, Sustainability Theme, at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Canada. She has a 30-year career in international development, having worked on social development, gender issues, and conflict across three continents. Her current research focuses on cross-cultural collaboration in First Nations settings in British Columbia.
Mr Lucian Rodriguez Lovell
Lecturer
RMIT University
Co-presenter
Biography
Lucian Rodriguez Lovell (he/him) is a PhD researcher and Lecturer in the RMIT Game Design Program. He lives and works on unceded Wurundjeri territory. Lucian’s research interrogates embodied human-computer interactions, generative ai, and digital cultures, through a paradigm of practice-based research. His contemporary creative practice involves mixed-reality games (AR and VR), experimental digital experience design, and physical to 3D imaging processes.
Miss Quynh Nhu Bui
Researcher
RMIT University
FP: Play to Preserve the Past: Design Considerations for the Transmission of Intangible Heritage through Augmented Reality
4:20 PM - 4:45 PMAbstract
Intangible heritage, globally, is under threat from aggressive urbanisation and globalisation, particularly in developing nations like Vietnam. To safeguard Vietnamese oral traditions, social practices, festive events and childhood play, the project Play to Preserve the Past uses augmented reality (AR) to undertake a nuanced exploration of creative practice methodologies and considerations for crafting immersive AR experiences. Central to this pursuit, the research endeavours to respond to a pivotal inquiry: "How can creative practitioners harness the potentials of AR for seamless transmission of intangible cultural heritage?” This pursuit has yielded a set of tailored AR game design considerations, including updating heritage aesthetics, physically involving the body in ritual movements, reconfiguring home space into ritual space, and embodying the evolving nature of knowledge and value systems. These considerations aim to provide nuance and contribute to the discourse by illustrating design steps and reflecting on them. Overall, the intention is to assist future creative practitioners in the field of cultural heritage preservation.
Biography
Nhu Bui is a designer-researcher “living between cultures” with a deep sense of responsibility towards preserving and celebrating her heritage. She was born in Saigon (HCMC), Vietnam, and is currently based in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Nhu is a research assistant at RMIT PlaceLab and a graduate of the Master of Animation, Games & Interactivity at RMIT. Her research focuses on Safeguarding Vietnamese Intangible Heritage through Augmented Reality Practice.
Nhu has worked as a UX/UI Designer for several creative agencies in Naarm (Melbourne). However, her deep passion led her to pursue a master’s degree, where she embraced Augmented Reality to preserve Vietnamese intangible heritage. This is when Nhu realises an underlying sticky problem of technology overreach and challenges herself to explore how practitioners can uphold cultural authenticity while harnessing 3D advanced tools.
Session chair
Benjamin Seide
Associate Professor
School of Art, Design And Media. Ntu Singapore
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