Not only did this exhibit involve a series of touch screen kiosks, but also needed to include a large version of the map that would be projected from the ceiling onto a table in the middle of the exhibit. Many ideas had been tossed around for the best way to approach this unique kiosk design. The approach we eventually decided on was to build a single interface that could accommodate both the projection and the touch screen displays. The screen shot below depicts the final interface design.

Working with projectors

Projecting the map onto a circular table provided an entirely new set of challenges. To accommodate this we came up with a two step approach.  For the interface itself we leveraged features of HTML5 to create a circular overlay of the Google map and the data overlays. The second problem was the projector itself. In order to perfectly project our circular map, a physical mask was needed to effectively block out the rest of the interface that did not need to be displayed onto the table.

Populating the Map

The Atlanta History Center provided geographical data that was out of this world. Not only had they plotted out all of the civil war battles in the Atlanta area, but the data also included detailed information on who and what was destroyed in Atlanta during the civil war. Much of this information has never been presented to the public at large.

To plot the data onto our Google map, two open source projects were utilized.  All of the data is stored in a format called “shapefiles”. The shapefiles are stored and managed by a custom module we developed for the Drupal content management system. This module stores the data, and produces a dynamic configuration file for our tile server that tells it about the data that should be presented.

Getting this data to a Google map requires the implementation of a tile server. In a nutshell, the tile server takes the shapefiles and turns them into standard images that can be added as an overlay to a Google map. For this task, it was Mapnik to the rescue. Mapnik is essentially a toolkit for working with geographic information systems (GIS) data and functions as a tile server for our kiosk.

The Map Interface

To the left of the map, a map legend is provided. This allows visitors to distinguish battle lines, defense lines, attack movement, areas that were destroyed and so on. The top right side of the interface provides a few choices so that visitors can toggle between features of google maps such as hiding or showing streets, as well as switching from street, satellite, and terrain style maps. Below this is a “Map Features” menu, that provides buttons for the 5 major civil war battles in the area, as well as downtown Atlanta in 1864. By simply tapping any of these buttons on the touch screen display, a visitor will be centered in on the area they chose, and presented with dialog about the battle they have selected.

Conclusion

The development of this kiosk provided many new challenges and allowed us to break into new and cutting-edge technologies. By leveraging these technologies, museum visitors are provided with an informative and new way to interact with an import part of Atlanta history, which might be right in their own backyard.

What I would have given for the opportunity to work in an art museum as a teenager—to have had access to such beautiful settings and stimulating interactions. Rather, like a lot of young first time job seekers; I wound up in the slippery kitchen of the fast food industry.

But this blog is not about me. Instead, I’d like to introduce to you the teens of the 2010 IMA Museum Apprentice Program (MAP). The IMA MAP employs high school sophomores and juniors during the spring and summer to explore what’s happening behind the scenes of the IMA, while working on projects alongside Museum staff.

This year, the MAP teens are learning about 100 Acres and planning creative experiences that will encourage Park visitors to engage with nature, art and with one another.

Check back as the MAP teens will be blogging about their experiences with art, nature and other things that catch their interest.

Hello, I’m Jakob, a junior at Herron High School and a member of the IMA Apprenticeship Program. This is my inaugural blog post, the first of what I hope to be many this summer. We’re still in training, but all signs are pointing to this summer being outstanding, and I’m really enjoying the atmosphere of the museum and its staff. I’ve always had fun at the museum, but now that I have the time to really take a look at things around here in detail, I’m finding more and more to admire.

It’s a great place for me considering how often I think about aesthetics anyways (I’m planning on going to art school), and I’m very happy to work at a place where everything I look at, from what’s on the walls to the design of the building and its grounds, is instructive and worth studying.

I’ll leave with an example of what I mean:

The exhibition opened Saturday and runs through January 18, 2010 in the IMA’s Star Studio. I spent my Tuesday lunch in the exhibition. The students’ video works and the film documenting the process with Dash drew me in. I was also tempted to add my own daydream to an IMA Flickr set shown in the exhibition as a slideshow. But my stomach was growling so I’ll have to go back.

I was delighted to sit down with Julie for a quick chat earlier this year.

Interview with artist Julie Dash

Was there a recent experience that led to the title for the exhibition, Smuggling Daydreams into Reality?
That’s something that as an artist I’ve been doing all my life and career. It’s not always easy being a visual artist. Creative ideas can be fragile and sometimes you have to protect those ideas at the same time you are developing them. We’re born creative beings. As you get older people demand that you be less creative, less imaginative and more pragmatic so you learn to protect and nurture your imagination. I’ve learned to smuggle my dreams into reality.

What do you hope visitors to the exhibition will take away from their experience?
First, it’s a way of giving a public voice to my students. Second, it’s a way for visitors to see and hear and interact with the students. And for me, it’s a great experiment with teaching and nurturing creativity. This is the first time I’ve worked with students in this way. I was presented with the opportunity and said “I can’t turn this down.” For the students, myself and the community, I hope we will continue this experience on some level.

The exhibition title also serves as a theme for this year’s Museum Apprentice Program. How do you hope the students in the program will be impacted?
I hope they will have fun smuggling their creative ideas, and at the same time they will unmask themselves. Everyone walks around with some mask on. This is the perfect venue to talk about unveiling because you have access to art and experts in one place. The students went into the galleries and looked at African and Asian masks and then video blogged about their experiences.

As a filmmaker, your daydreams would seem to be wonderful breeding ground to explore new stories, plots and characters. How have your daydreams found their way into your craft?
You’ll always see some of my daydreams in my films. If given an assignment or a script, I have to dream it from beginning to end before I make it. Dreaming comes in handy. It’s really just a more romantic way of saying “visualize.”

Are there ways you might recommend people to access and record their banished fantasies or deferred hopes?
Video blogging – it’s private and easily done with a flip camera and tripod. You can sit with yourself and talk about experiences.

Tell me something about yourself you think readers would like to know.
Before a filmmaker, I’m a mother. My daughter just graduated from college. So you could say, first I’m a mommy.

Note: this interview was also published in the fall issue of Previews membership magazine.

Using the DHL shipping service, Swedish artist Erik Nordenankar brought this global idea to light by orchestrating a 55-day trip across 63 countries. His Web site explains that a sealed case containing a GPS component was sent with specific instructions for its handlers. Nordenankar claimed he created the “biggest drawing in the world” which is also a self-portrait. I was taken in by the video diary of the process.

Seem unbelievable? After numerous blogger comments, Nordenankar’s project was revealed by DHL as a hoax to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper yesterday. DHL agreed to let the artist film inside their warehouse as part of his college project but stipulated that it should go no further. After creating a pretty fascinating Web site, with evidence to support his work including DHL delivery notes and photos of the case, Nordenankar apparently forgot to put up a disclaimer that his GPS case never actually traveled anywhere. (There is now a red disclaimer located at the top of the site.)

As I watched the story unfold, my first clue to the illusion was that the cost must be unbelievable for an emerging artist, let alone a student, to set something like this up. I give credit to Nordenankar for his idea and the realm of possibilities it opens up for both serious and recreational artists. Why not take a GPS device on your next camping trip and see what kind of forest animal your hike can create? I’m game.

Recommended IMA Work of Art:
In the contemporary galleries, on the third level of the IMA, you’ll find a large, orange, mixed media work on canvas by Argentinean Guillermo Kuitca. Entitled “Everything”, 2004, the piece appears to be an abstract blur of lines, cracks and patterns. Upon closer look, a disorienting mix of familiar streets, borders, cities and towns appears, connected in most peculiar ways!