courses :: mas 879   interactive expression :: steve benton + glorianna davenport   stations   stations is an interactive hologram installation, representing the fourteen stations of the cross. the stations of the cross are a popular catholic devotion which commemorates the passion and death of Christ. each of the fourteen stations depicts an event that took place on the road to calvary on good friday. originating in the 4th century, the stations, or way of the cross, was greatly popularized by the franciscans in the 14th century. the stations can be placed along the walls of a church, on a pilgrimage route, at a shrine or outdoors. the idea behind this installation was to transform an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, get me from a-to-b corridor into a space for reflection and exploration. i have always been fascinated by this particular catholic devotion, with its mixture of sombre imagery, repetitive prayer spoken in unision and the slow, rhythmic movement of a group of people. i was interested in creating a piece that invited reflection and provoked thought. i also wanted to use some references to contemporary society to suggestively transpose the possible soundscape of the via dolorosa at the time of the events depicted to analogous sounds from today's culture. the installation "at rest" exists in darkness accompanied by background ambient street noise. as soon as someone moves into the installation space and steps onto the first sensor mat located underneath the first station, the light source for that hologram turns on and the image is illuminated. this motion also triggers a sound associated with that station to begin to play. the person moves away from the station, the light extinguishes and the sound trickles away. as this person makes their way around the stations, perhaps they are joined or followed by several others. more of the lights are triggered and the sound becomes more cacophonous and discordant. the images are relatively small and positioned high on the walls as i wanted people to have to really focus on the images - move this way and that to find the best position to discern the contents of the hologram and consider its relevance to the station name and its position within the group of stations.           back