event: Theoretical Approaches to Virtual Representations of Past Environments
A workshop run by Kate Devlin, Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Computer graphics has become a popular way of interpreting past environments, for educational and entertainment value, and also as an aid to research. The use of three-dimensional computer modelling to create an image of a site or artefact has become an accepted means of communicating cultural heritage information.
Computer generated images are not subject to the same scrutiny that text invites, and given the selectivity of a dataset, the motivation behind the work and the inclusion of inference, the possibility of misinterpretation is likely to be high. However, a neutral virtual representation is unlikely, if not impossible. Without any indication of the underlying motivation, we are left with images that are merely one subjective picture of the past.
Something that proves particularly difficult when creating representations of past environments is how to provide context of an intangible nature, such as a social, temporal or even emotional interaction with the representation. For example, many representations are sterile, empty spaces, devoid of the people who would have built and used them. We need to look at ways that allow us to convey the information outside of the physical structure of a scene.
There are several topics that raise questions which would benefit greatly from a collaborative framework of specialists.
