James the Rat King eXperience
James the Rat King eXperience, which tells the story of the 1900-1907 bubonic plague in Brisbane, was featured in Curiocity Brisbane 2021, a large-scale public event combining science, art and tech.
It investigates how animation can be implemented in public spaces to provide a thorough account of a historical event. In the project, a multimedia platform combining animated sequences, archival footage, and scientific information was accessed via QR Codes placed at 8 different points across Southbank Parkland, and the full animation was screened on the big screen of the State Library of Queensland.
Funding
Curiocity Brisbane
History
ERA Category
- Original Creative Work - Other
Funding type
- Private funds
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
Research Statement
Research Background: James the Rat King eXperience is an animation-based public art project that tells the story of the 1900-1907 bubonic plague in Brisbane. The project investigates how QR code activated multimedia on mobile platforms can provide a thorough account of a historical event to the general public along a designated trail. Drawing from the project’s collaborator Dr Nicola Hooper’s doctoral research and art project on zoonoses, James the Rat King eXperience combines historic documents, archival footage, original illustrations, and animated sequences accessed through 8 different spots. Research Contribution: Amid the struggles that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought, James the Rat King eXperience aims to provide a larger perspective by presenting the different aspects of the 1900-1907 bubonic plague in Brisbane. Although this event has been recounted a few times in video and installation formats, this is the first time that it became the focus of a large-scale public art project, offering both a shorter summary and a more in-depth account of different aspects. The animated sequences in each spot tell the story of the plague in a nursery rhyme and fairy-tale setting, relaying a complex and distressing story in a more relatable way. The archival footage, illustrations and scientific information found on the same page give further context. Overall, this project contributes to animation in public art domain by combining animation with historical footage and scientific facts and presenting it in an accessible and flexible experience. Research Significance: James the Rat King eXperience has been featured in Curiocity Brisbane 2021, a large-scale public event supported by Tourism Queensland and the City of Brisbane. The event lasted more than 10 days and the site was visited by thousands of people every day. James the Rat King eXperience was also featured in SLQ blogs and had a large press exposure through Curiocity Brisbane news.Publisher
Curiocity Brisbane 2021Place of publication
BrisbaneConfidential / Culturally sensitive
- No
Copyright notes
© 2021 Zeynep Akcay and Nicola HooperMedium
Digital Video & Web SiteExhibition date from
2021-03-12Exhibition date to
2021-03-28Was the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Public broadcast
Scope of dissemination
- State
Did the work go on tour?
- No