Ghostgarden
15 January 2010
With your iPhone you can soon explore Ghostgarden through real spaces and alternate narratives inspired by history, geography and fantasy.
Artist Anita Fontaine has been working with technician Mike Pelletier to develop an innovative iPhone prototype for Ghostgarden. They have developed an app with potential to invigorate garden surroundings with a fantasy narrative, using GPS technology to activate cinematic chapters. Previously Ghostgarden was based on portable PC technology, and participants have explored the work throughout the Sydney Botanic Gardens in 2008.
Fontaine and Pelletier are researching and developing new iPhone possibilities for artists and audiences. They set out to develop the very first engine/ app for the iPhone to serve as a platform for location-based cinema, animation, storytelling, and sound. The app is a map viewer that shows rich media depending on your actual GPS position, and will have the potential to allow multiple location-specific Ghostgardens to be developed in the future. The next stage is further creative development of content, with the app available for download soon after. Audiences will then be able to access a unique Ghostgarden experience through their iPhone anywhere around the world.
So far there have been many benefits arising from Ghostgarden. Since early 2009 when the first stage of the project started, interest in iPhone apps have escalated dramatically, creating an ideal climate for research, development and innovation to take place. Fontaine and Pelletier have also developed a groundbreaking iPhone app at the Tate Modern London, for the virtual exhibition of Miroslaw Balka’s work How It Is.
They have also been invited to present the Ghostgarden project at the ADOBE max event in Amsterdam, the OFFF festival in Lisbon and the dLux media GPS Masterclass at the Sydney Powerhouse Museum.
Fontaine and Pelletier are now looking at the next wave of technology, including augmented reality and feature tracking. The Ghostgarden engine/app has potential to support these innovative, interactive and audio visual features, and is enabling new avenues of experimentation and hybrid arts practice.
This project was supported by the Australia Council through the Inter-Arts Projects grant.
For further information see Anita Fontaine's website, and her work with Champagne Valentine for the Tate online project. See below for a Ghostgarden preview, video courtesy of Anita Fontaine.
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