Using interaction and 3D virtual reality, this project aims to prompt an affective, emotional and local connection to the consequences of the Anthropocene on remote places that only very few have visited. The abstract resource offered by this project offers greater scope for interpretation and a sense of presence.

A Hyperkinetic Kayak fitted with 3D virtual reality video, sound and interactive capabilities seeks to prompt an affective, emotional and local connection to the consequences of the Anthropocene on remote places that only very few have visited.

Six metres long, a white kayak cuts through the dark space. The kayak is set within a large, black podium from which it can be accessed. In front of the kayak’s seat is a paddle locked inside a control device. In front of the kayak is a large screen, 6 x 4 metres, on which an icy sea emerges when viewed through the 3D glasses provided. The kayak slowly drifts along on the sea, between vast wireframe icebergs. Suddenly one of the wireframe structures erupts into a pink, wavy pattern that captures the kayak. This is just one of the many startling effects associated with the see-through icebergs. The room is filled with the sound of melting ice combined with ambient music.

When a member of the audience sits down in the kayak, the drifting experience changes immediately: now the kayak follows the movements of the rower. The kayak does not confine itself to the surface of the sea; it dives down below the surface and takes flight around the wireframe icebergs.

The wall across from the kayak shows digital readouts of the temperature at Quanaq, where the Danish authorities have their northernmost meteorological observation post in Greenland. Quanaq is the place to which the indigenous people and culture of Greenland were relocated in order to make way for the controversial Thule Base. The day-to-day temperature readouts at Quanaq have a direct impact on the virtual visuals of the work. In this way the project establishes a direct dialogue with a geographical constant, regardless of where it is shown. 

Using interaction and 3D virtual reality, this project aims to prompt an affective, emotional and local connection to the consequences of the Anthropocene on remote places that only very few have visited. The abstract resource offered by this project offers greater scope for interpretation and a sense of presence.

Partners: Peter Møller-Nielsen, CAVI: Center for Avanceret Visualisering og Interaktion, Peter Friis, Rasmus Lunding, Mads Vahlberg A/S, Thaysen Byg.

Medium: Kayak, hydraulic motor, screen, 2 projectors, surround sound system, 1 subwoofer, minimac and sound controllers, PC to control virtual reality visuals, splitter box, podium.

Supported by National Arts Foundation, Aarhus Arts Council, Impact, CAVI.