The exhibition Midnight Robbers: The Artists of Notting Hill Carnival opened to a crowd of more than 150 people in London City Hall on Wednesday, Sept 26. This exhibition explores London’s Carnival, Europe's most spectacular street performance. It marks the bicentennial of the abolition of slave trading in British colonies, and reflects on slavery legacy of which Carnival is a significant part. The exhibition was planned and organized by the Carnival Exhibition Group, directed by Lesley Ferris (OSU Theatre) and Ruth Tompsett (Middlesex University London), to promote the history, heritage and practice of Carnival arts, through the creation of public exhibitions and publications. Dorothy Noyes (OSU Center for Folklore Studies) serves on the advisory board.

The technical innovation of the exhibition was the creation of the Carnival Interactive multimedia program developed by a team of students (see photo) from the Department of Design. Lead by Brian Stone (Design) this program enabled users to interact with an on-screen computer presentation. The program creates the illusion of a 3D environment and offers something new to discover each time it is used.  The application’s mix of textual content, imagery, audio, video, and interactivity allow visitors to immerse themselves in the experience of Carnival.

The application was designed as a collaborative effort that began with two weeks of research in London during the 2005 Notting Hill Carnival. Professor Brian Stone, accompanied by 1st year graduate student Brandan Craft spent two weeks in London interviewing artists and designers of carnival costumes. They gathered historical material and took hundreds of photos and several hours of video during the 2-day event that winds through the streets of Notting Hill. The images and video were then catalogued using the College of Humanities’ digital repository.

The design effort began as a part of Professor Stone’s Design 673: Interactive Media Design course. Student designers Seth Baker, Lindsay Brown, Curt Davis, Monica Fox, Adam Fromme, Josh Lemeshow, Thadeu Morgado, Erin Nelson, Melissa Quintanilha, Meredith Reuter, Brittani White, Herbert Wilborn, and Denise Yee divided into 4 teams and developed concepts and prototypes. At the end of the quarter, one concept would be chosen to move forward… taking it from prototype to a developed application. Each team took a different strategy in communicating the breadth and experience of carnival via an on-screen interactive narrative. All 4 concepts were masterfully executed and conceptually intriguing. In the end, a concept was chosen that considered the clear context of use (an exhibition), exhibited high usability characteristics, was visually striking, and integrated several dimension of media.

The application works on the concept of a horizontal panoramic streetscape. The application is exploratory in nature, and reacts the moment a user touches the mouse. The interface controls are transparent spirals, which are placed over key visual elements. When a user clicks on one of the spirals a small module of text is revealed that illuminates a different aspects of carnival. There are 5 different modules; the Carnival event, Carnival Splash, a showcase for costumes, Steel Band, the music most closely associated with the event, Mas Camp, the communities where costumes are made, and the Carnival Artists featured in the Exhibition. Each module is accompanied by a different audio track in the genre of carnival.

Brandan Craft programmed the prototype, while Lesley Ferris and Ruth Tompsett refined the textual content. The application was piloted at the Caribbean Arts Festival in London in 2006 and was very well received. With a few minor adjustments, the final application was launch in London City Hall in September 2007.

The exhibition, which will include the multimedia application as well as actual carnival costumes, is scheduled to open in the United States on February 5, 2008 at the College of the Arts’ Urban Arts Space. http://arts.osu.edu/3news_events/b_featured_events/featured_events_wi08/midnight_robbers.html