THE INFINITE LINE

2014

Sarah Kenderdine, Jeffrey Shaw,Edwin Nadason Thumboo

In the tradition of the ‘workshop of potential literature', or Oulipo, this interactive installation gives visitors the opportunity to recombine the poetic ensemble of Edwin Thumboo. Twenty seven seminal poems are redefined as poly-vocal readings, which de- and reconstruct his original oeuvre into renewed vectors of meaning.

Using a 360-degree 3D theatre, visitors engage with 27 life-size video recitals by Thumboo.Computational techniques allow for a matrix of individual lines of poetry to be re-assembled in a ‘live’ re-reading of key texts. The resulting assemblages offer new optics and an infinite number of interpretations of the poems and, the man. The Infinite Line proposes new modes of spectatorship in the performance of poetry.

Sarah Kenderdine ( AU) researches at the forefront of i nteractive and i mmersive experiences for museums and galleries. In widely exhibited installation works, she has amalgamated cultural heritage with new media art practice, especially in the realms of interactive cinema, augmented reality and embodied narrative. She is a pioneer in panoramic and stereoscopic display systems and content creation. Sarah oncurrently holds the position of Professor, National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA), COFA, University of New South Wales and Special Projects, Museum Victoria, Australia (2003—). She is founding Director of Research at the Applied Laboratory for Interactive Visualization and Embodiment (ALiVE), City University of Hong Kong (2010-2013) where she founded the LUXLAB.

Edwin Nadason Thumboo (SG), Emeritus Professor at National University of Singapore's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, is widely regarded as the unofficial poet laureate of Singapore. He is best known for writing on national issues. His poem, Ulysses
by the Merlion, is a major work in Singapore literature. He was the first Singaporean to be conferred the SEA Write Award and the Cultural Medallion for Literature in 1979 and 1980 respectively.

Jeffrey Shaw (b. 1944) has been a leading figure in new media art since the 1960's. In a prolific body of internationally exhibited and acclaimed works, he has pioneered and set benchmarks for the creative use of digital media in the fields of expanded cinema, virtual and augmented reality, immersive visualization and interactive narrative. Shaw was co-founder of the Eventstructure Research Group in Amsterdam (1969-1979), and founding director of the ZKM Institute for Visual Media Karlsruhe (1991-2002). In 2003 he co-founded and directed the UNSW iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research in Sydney, and in 2009 Shaw was appointed Chair Professor of Media Art and Dean of the School of Creative Media at City University in Hong Kong, where he is also Director of the ACIM and ALiVE research centres. In 2014 Shaw was appointed Visiting Professor at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London.