The 360° video »Secret Detours« served as an immediate approach to digitally preserve a Chinese garden in Singapore. Currently, my collaborators Benjamin Seide, Ross Wiliams and myself have developed a range of different versions in order to explore the screening possibilities and have adjusted both, the visual composition and the sound design accordingly.
»Secret Detours« was captured in a Chinese garden in Singapore, which opened in 1956 – quite old for the 53-year-old city-state. The garden is undergoing massive redevelopment, several old trees have been cut down, bridges and pavilions have been removed. Since it was important to act quickly, the garden was filmed as a spherical 360° video, not only for artistic but also for conservation purposes. Four dancers acted out a choreography by Susan Sentler to represent the cardinal directions of Chinese mythology, after which the garden was initially conceived.
Visions of East Asian mythology materialise in a decidedly modern metropolis, a place without a past – two worlds collide. Secret Detours engages the audience with over-whelming vistas in a full spherical presentation, encompassing the viewers from all angles.
The movie short is set within a lush tropical garden, adapted from the great traditions of Chinese landscaping – Yunnan Garden in the West of Singapore. Four dancers, dressed in the colours of the cardinal directions, examine the spaces, the paths and the detours of the green scenery.
The spherical video relates to the experience of being surrounded by mythological creatures and their traces inside the garden. As the beautiful layout of the grounds is composed from a range of intersections with multiple meandering paths to choose from, the omnidirectional video invites similarly to explore the atmosphere between an exquisite selection of trees, shrubs, bushes and pieces of architecture.
Secret Detours has been showcased on several occasions: international fllm-festival, exhibition venues and a range of display formats. The outcome of the artistic research, in particular the experience with a wide range of presentation formats, led to papers which were presented at international conferences.
Choreography: Susan Sentler
Dancer:
White Tiger: Tan Ling Lynn
Azure Dragon: Chua Pei Yun
Black Turtle: Lim Wei Li Valerie
Vermillion Bird: Tan Zi Wen Vasantha
Camera: Hiverlab