Sacred space : priorities, perception and the presence of God in late medieval Yorkshire parish churches

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Digital Creativity and the Regional Museum: Experimental collaboration at the convergence of immersive media and exhibition design

This paper presents the findings of the Within the Walls of York Gaol, an interdisciplinary and collaborative practice-based research project which was established to examine the intersection between emerging forms of immersive media, game design and contemporary archaeological exhibition design. The project was a collaboration between researchers and practitioners at York Museums Trust, The University of York, and the University of Glasgow and used co-design methods to design and produce two immersive installations in the prison cells at York Castle Museum in collaboration with community groups.The project sought to re-think the role of the museum within regional creative economies and to argue for the importance of the regional museum as a hub for digital design and innovation. Through innovative forms of collaborative research practice the project was able to develop new understandings of the ways in which collaborative approaches to the design and development of interactive digital media can be used to build skilled communities of practice around regional museums. The project took a critical stance to the use of immersive media technologies and led to the development of innovative and highly distinctive digital immersive installations which emerged in response to the specific opportunities and design requirements of museums and their audiences.This paper will set out the findings of this project as well as identifying new creative directions and new forms of collaborative design practice which can be adopted and adapted for use across the museum sector

Glastonbury Abbey: Archaeology, Legend and Public Engagement

This AHRC-funded Follow-On project was led by Professor Roberta Gilchrist of Reading University and was undertaken in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture at the University of York. The original 3-year AHRC project, 'The Glastonbury Abbey Archaeological Archive Project (2009-2013), had undertaken a complete analysis of previously unpublished excavations at Glastonbury Abbey, with outputs aimed primarily at academic audiences. This purpose of this Follow-On project was to make this research available in an accessible form to new audiences, including the 100,000+ visitors to Glastonbury Abbey, the local community and the wider public

Visualising the Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon: digital models as research tools in buildings archaeology

This article disseminates the results of a programme of detailed archaeological survey and archive research on one of Europe's most important surviving late-medieval Guild Chapels — that of the Holy Cross Guild, Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire). Today the building is part of Stratford-upon-Avon's tourist trail, located directly opposite William Shakespeare's home, 'New Place', and visited by thousands of tourists every year. However, its archaeological and historical significance has been overlooked owing to the extensive restoration of the building in the 19th and 20th centuries. This destroyed evidence for an internationally significant scheme of wall paintings within the Chapel, paid for by the London Mayor and Stratford-upon-Avon merchant, Hugh Clopton, an important member of the Holy Cross Guild and the original builder of 'New Place'. The paintings also have an important connection with Stratford-upon-Avon's most famous son, William Shakespeare, whose father may have been involved in their destruction and removal during the 16th century. Research by a team of historical archaeologists and digital heritage specialists at the Department of Archaeology, University of York, has revealed the significance of the Guild Chapel through the creation of a digital model and textual paradata, which form the focus of this article. The project is ground-breaking in that it moves beyond the traditional use of digital models as virtual reconstructions of past buildings to use the model itself as a research tool through which the user can explore and validate the evidence for the scheme directly. This is achieved through the creation of a palimpsest of antiquarian drawings of the paintings, made as they were revealed during restoration works in the 19th and 20th centuries, and set within their 3-dimensional architectural context. The model allows the user to compare and contrast differences in the recording methods, iconographies and interpretations of the scheme. It is supported by the 'paradata' that forms the core of the article text, and which provides an innovative model for the analysis of the antiquarian records of the scheme, and their contextual meaning. The project reveals the Guild Chapel at Stratford-upon-Avon to be one of the finest examples of mercantile and guild patronage of the period, shedding important light on the patronage of ecclesiastical art on the eve of the Reformation, and revealing important connections between provincial guild architecture of Warwickshire and internationally significant schemes in London and Paris. It also provides a ground-breaking model of the ways in which digital heritage technologies can be harnessed not only by historical archaeology, but within the arts and humanities more widely

L'étude de l'art rupestre de l'abri Faravel (Freissinières, 05), alt. 2133 m.

Communication présentée dans le cadre de la table-ronde FRECHALP - 23 octobre 2013 (MMSH, Aix-en-Provence

Interpreting the Rock Paintings of Abri Faravel: laser and white-light scanning at 2133 m in the southern French Alps.

International audienceThe Abri Faravel, discovered in 2010 at 2,133m asl in the Parc National des Ecrins, Freissinières, Southern French Alps, is probably the most enigmatic high altitude site in the Alps. This rock shelter saw phases of human activity from the Mesolithic through to the medieval period; the artefactual assemblages comprise Mesolithic and Neolithic flint tools, Iron Age hand-thrown pottery, a Roman fibula and some medieval metalwork. However, the most interesting and unique feature on the site are the prehistoric rock paintings; the highest representations of animals (quadrupeds) in Europe. These paintings are presented in this article. The paintings themselves were the object of a white-light scan, whilst the rock-shelter and surrounding landscape was scanned using a Faro laser scanner. Both of these models are presented here, and their interpretation elucidated by an assessment of the different phases of activity at the shelter, combined with a synthesis of other evidence from the area and pertinent environmental evidence

Digital creativity and the regional museum: experimental collaboration at the convergence of immersive media and exhibition design

This paper presents the findings of the Within the Walls of York Gaol, an interdisciplinary and collaborative practice-based research project which was established to examine the intersection between emerging forms of immersive media, game design and contemporary archaeological exhibition design. The project was a collaboration between researchers and practitioners at York Museums Trust, The University of York, and the University of Glasgow and used co-design methods to design and produce two immersive installations in the prison cells at York Castle Museum in collaboration with community groups.The project sought to re-think the role of the museum within regional creative economies and to argue for the importance of the regional museum as a hub for digital design and innovation. Through innovative forms of collaborative research practice the project was able to develop new understandings of the ways in which collaborative approaches to the design and development of interactive digital media can be used to build skilled communities of practice around regional museums. The project took a critical stance to the use of immersive media technologies and led to the development of innovative and highly distinctive digital immersive installations which emerged in response to the specific opportunities and design requirements of museums and their audiences.This paper will set out the findings of this project as well as identifying new creative directions and new forms of collaborative design practice which can be adopted and adapted for use across the museum sector

Whispering Graffiti

Listen to the graffiti scratched into the walls of York Gaol by prisoners 200 years ago. Use your ears and a 'magic wand' to find hidden pictures and learn the stories of some of the inmates held in the prisons at York Castle during the 1700s and 1800s. Whispering Graffiti is part of ‘Within the Walls of York Gaol’, a collaborative research project between York Museums Trust, the University of York and the University of Glasgow to develop new forms of interactive media for museums

Whispering Graffiti

Listen to the graffiti scratched into the walls of York Gaol by prisoners 200 years ago. Use your ears and a 'magic wand' to find hidden pictures and learn the stories of some of the inmates held in the prisons at York Castle during the 1700s and 1800s. Whispering Graffiti is part of ‘Within the Walls of York Gaol’, a collaborative research project between York Museums Trust, the University of York and the University of Glasgow to develop new forms of interactive media for museums