Abstract

Keywords: Public art, virtual reality, 360 video, computer vision, socially engaged art

Forgotten Landscapes is a site-specific public art installation of interactive virtual reality (VR) viewing machines. The machines provide a perspective from which to explore a series of 360-degree videos of deserted landscapes filmed at the last-known location of missing persons in Austin, Texas. The piece revisits several cold cases related to women, children, and minorities from 1970’s to the present. Using customized computer vision software all human activity is removed from each landscape while preserving the motion of nature, the sky, trees, grasses, and birds to promote the sense of isolation and emptiness. The project addresses criminal cases against minorities as well as challenges the use of media technology in a public space.

• Ha Na Lee & James Hughes, Department of Film and Media Arts, The University of Utah,
  Salt Lake City, U.S.A

Full text (PDF) p. 449-452

Forgotten Landscapes was created through a commission by the Austin Art in Public Places TEMPO program and installed in Bartholomew Park in Austin, Texas. The piece was reinstalled for exhibition by Art Alliance Austin, and also included in the SXSW Festival UNESCO Showcase in 2018.