Project: Carmen

Remixing and Refabricating of Feminine Archetypal Qualities

Carmen is a self-reflective study that centres around seeking to deconstruct and reconstruct classical and technological qualities of the historical figure ‘Carmen’. In short, the project presents a mixed media account of a ‘remixing’ of the male gaze presented as a digitization of the engergetic qualities of ‘Carmen’.

The Historical Figurative Qualities of Carmen

The 'Carmen Ecosystem' emerged from two research sources. French composer Georges Bizet's ‘Carmen’ and the 90s computer game 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego'. In both of these examples, the feminine is depicted as constantly in flux, uncontrollable, elusive, passionate, dangerous and mysterious.

When creating frameworks for designs to emerge, I find it helpful to use similar project development methodologies to UX design thinking. First and foremost, an identity or persona is extrapolated as symbolic aspects of the ecosystem it emerges from. Initially the ecosystem remains elusive, only identifiable as parts of an unrealised whole.

Docklands Exhibition of Carmen Prints

For site specific fabrication and installations of Carmen digital media designs I focused on aesthetic outcomes that maintained the integrity of core ecosystem concepts whilst pushing the technical interplay between fabrication (identity) and site specificity (environment).

Pictured below are partially transparent image prints (functioning similarly to stained glass) that act both as containers for the materialisation of the representations of Carmen, whilst also acting as a conduit for the surrounding environment to ‘pass through’ and merge with it’s defining and inherent qualities.

The alchemy of bridging ideas across digital and physical mediums whilst retaining focus & integrity of cultural identity is not just a question of automation & scalability. It is a process & practice of mindfulness & care.

XR Interactive Experience and Exhibition Design

Carmen digital media assets were developed into an XR/VR gallery experience.

The exhibition experience correlated and converged a proportionately accurate experience of the physical gallery space with the virtual experience of Carmen in digital place and space.

Behind the Mask

Essentially, modulating and adapting design assets, whilst staying true to principles and elements of the essence of Carmen, her unconventional nature becomes apparent through continuing to defy singularity of definition - various mediums becomes the designer thinking across and through agile practice. 

Below we see an example of modulated iterations of original Carmen video-mapping photo shoot, realised as abstracted ‘mask’ prototypes - the identity remains concealed and yet emerging from the practice are a multitude of faces.   

Mask designs emerge from reconstructing video footage stills:

All the above assets were then published with the Heard and Felt record company as an audiovisual release that included integrated thematic images, video and project based music productions that were created based on overarching project concepts.

The Cy Gorman AV design collection 'Carmen' was released internationally as a mixed media release & is available for download through www.heardandfelt.com