1. Overview
History always unfold itself to us in a quite distant way. We read books, hold artifacts in hands, walk in heritage architectures, imagining how ancient people has lived, and yet still can only grasp a scent. How about experience a piece of history and live like the old folks? Row to Remember Is a project I designed for the Grand Canal Museum in Suzhou. This is a public interactive art. When sit on the boat and row the paddle, a series of event will be triggered. Smoke will come out from the floor and fill in the space, followed by an animated video of Qing Ming Shang He Tu projected on the smoke. Through the immersive experience, I try to create an illusionary environment that brought the participants back in time. They row a little boat on the canal and looking at the prosperous city on riverside like our ancestors did.
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Grand Canal
The Grand Canal is the longest and oldest artificial canal in the world. It running from Beijing in the north to Zhejiang province in the south. It was constructed in sections from the 5th century BC onwards.
Ferry across river from past to present
2. Video Content
The Grand Canal is a remarkable historic site not only because of its superior political and economic positions, but also its facilitation on cultural exchange and prosperity. There’s lots of Chinese poems and paintings that depict The Grand Canal across history.To reproduce the scenes of old times, I analyzed the poems of the Grand Canal and selected several frequently depicted scenes, and selected the most vividly described one with the corresponding images from historic sources. I used them to produce the videos in the projecting system.
Considering the video is going to be played by projector, I use black color as background and use ink drop as frame for each scene, to make it looks nature on smoke.
Capital City
Bustling Market
Peaceful Countryside Life
Natural Scenery
3. Design Process
I used the ship as a carrier and the paddle as a connection to the audience. When visitor rows the paddle, they’ll be surrounded by smoke, just like entering a virtual world back in time, with videos projecting around them to watch. The videos show the live scenes along the bay of Grand Canal that make visitors feel like they’re in the context, leaving the first-person impression on their memory.
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4. Prototype
