Carbon was invited by Impressions Gallery to develop a digital concept to support Yan Preston’s upcoming Mother River exhibition in 2017.
In the course of curating and producing the collection, Yan has collected sound recordings, video and digital maps which tell the story of how Mother River was created. Carbon designed a concept augmented reality experience enabling visitors to see these additional materials through their smartphone’s camera.
In keeping with the gallery’s photographic heritage, the app – River Stories – was conceived as a “lens” and “camera”, through which visitors can experience Mother River through the eyes of curators, visitors and Yan herself. The simple act of pointing the camera at one of the exhibited works and operating the app’s “shutter” displayed these additional materials. Additionally, visitors can use the app to take “augmented” photos of their experience, annotated with the additional materials, as well as the opportunity to record a brief audio or text reflection.
Carbon intends to integrate our work developing the Yarn storytelling community with Mother River, enabling to connect the story of their visit to Yan’s stories of developing the collection.