After conducting research into other exhibitions based around the sea I decided that, unlike most of the sea exhibitions currently out there, I wanted mine to be much more literal by leaving out any photographs or sculptures of fish or other sea creatures and creating a more immersive experience using other methods. Although the exhibition will still be informative and contain information about the sea and what we do and don’t know about it, I really want to emphasise the idea that we are still very much in the dark about the deep sea and I think the exhibition can use this as it’s main feature. To best illustrate this through an exhibition, I wanted to look into existing immersive experiences within exhibitions, specifically using lights within it as I think light is one of the main drivers for the exhibition as bioluminescence was one of the first things I pulled out of my research into the deep sea.
I carried out some more research into light installations and found the Aura Interactive Audiovisual Installation by Nick Verstand which is an exhibition that uses lights to create visual ideas of what brainwaves, heart-rate variability, and galvanic skin response would look. like or make the viewer feel. Although not a literal interpretation of the brainwaves etc, it definitely gives off an ‘unknown’ vibe and definitely stimulates the senses to something mysterious. The idea of the bright lights and the dark, black background is also interesting as the bright lights draw the eye away from the dark. backgrounds ands almost makes it feel even more dark. The colours used are blue, cold colours which just add even more to the cold, dark feeling of the exhibition. Although about a completely different topic, the exhibition definitely gives me inspiration as I think everything from the cold colours in contrast with the dark background, to the way the lights stimulate the senses all stand out as ways to create an immersive deep sea experience.
After speaking to Theo about my overall idea, he agreed that the exhibition would be best portrayed without showing specific photos and videos of what we know about the ocean, but saw dI needed to focus more on what makes the fish in the ocean so special. We spoke about Blue Planet ll which is a documentary which looks into the deep sea and its creatures, although many of the images in the documentary are CGI images, and although they do not depict the creatures in the sea entirely, one of the noticeable themes is the colours and the movement of the creatures. Every movement is over exaggerated and almost seems to flow with the water to create a beautiful ‘flawy’ movement of bright, luminous colours.
I continued my research into light shows and exhibitions and found more examples of ways exhibitions use lights and projections to stimulate the mind. I think the light shows communicate the idea of bioluminescence really well, and after seeing the video of the way the light moves around the room and reflects off everything, I think it works perfectly to simulate the way the fish and water move with fluidity, while also keeping the luminescence.
Overall I think the idea of using light shows to portray the deep sea is one which could be very effective. Firstly, the fact that the deep sea is largely unexplored means the amount of photographs or videos out there is very little and is also a slightly cliche idea which I wanted to stay away from. I think the light exhibition is a way of illustrating and portraying life beneath the ocean without showing exactly what is down there.
Ben Jackson 