Shadows and Silhouettes: Art Walks in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes

Shadows and Silhouettes: Art Walks in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, Mirror City (2014)

As I am trying to use different media to express the theme of walking through time and space, I thought a video would be a good idea. This particular video is an example of how an art walk can be recorded. I like this idea for many reasons. Firstly, using video can enable the viewer to feel the movement of walking through space. Also, it is possible to see the art as the walker sees it. This particular walk is a very personal interpretation of the art at Campbell Park as the producer of the video has chosen specific angles to look at the art work.

The still images themselves are individual pieces of art. Each shot has been carefully considered from an artistic viewpoint. The viewer of this video needs to take into account that they might experience the walk very differently because of the time of day, the people they are with, the angles of the shots, etc. as these aspects will all affect how the walk is experienced.

This video art walk makes me feel calm because of the way the shots are taken. It also allows me to see aspects of the art I might not have considered looking at if I were there.

However, I feel the video lacks the feeling of being on a walk. It is simply shots of art in the park. We do not know the route taken or how long it is between each art work. There is no concept of time or space in this presentation. Also there is no information about the art work. If I watch an art walk video, I want to know what the art piece is called, who the artist is, how it was made and when.

In order to integrate the concept of time and space, one idea would be to produce a downloable interactive ebook. The ebook would have a hand-drawn map indicating a possible route for walking and viewing the art, people could choose their own route, the distance between the art works would be important as this would give an idea of the time the walk would take. The walker could also have the opportunity to download GPS points from the ebook to put into their mobile phone should they consider doing the walk in real life. The ebook could be made in two formats - for a tablet and for a phone. Another aspect I would like to see included is the opportunity for the user to obtain information about the art work by clicking on a link in the ebook. There are many other additions that could be included in an ebook: a slideshow of the walk, an interpretation of the walk though incidental nature art seen on the route through photography, drawings, prints, rubbings etc. In addition, walking with a camera on the body would allow the viewer to experience the actual walk virtually.

Reference

Mirror City (2014) Shadows and Silhouettes: Art Walks in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, [Online] Available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FATdI9NBS0, [Accessed: 19 November 2014].