The "Panorama" Project — Warszawa

The “Panorama” project is a kind of map—a recorded journey on the Vistula River in Warsaw, from the Siekierkowski Bridge to the Zeran Bridge and back. This approximately 3-hour cruise was documented by a video camera. Sailing down the river we filmed the left bank—Warszawa, sailing up the river the right bank—Praga. While recording views of the riverbanks, the tripod-mounted camera registered other elements too—changing distance to the shore, changing velocity, and rhythmic wave motion and changing light conditions (we had some sun breaks during that mostly cloudy day).

In post-production, the video recording has been translated into a static image through computer code written specifically for the project. The program scans each video frame and through certain algorithm, it compiles an image that is a static representation of the sailing motion. As a result of that transformation the “Panorama” image is a kind of a very long “postcard” approximately 15 centimeters high and 25 meters long, printed on Plexiglas panels.

The “Panorama” image, which is somehow reminiscent of a visual sound wave, inspired yet another transformation— image to sound translation. The program “scans” the “Panorama” and identifies certain visual parameters of the image (such as specific color, shape, etc.). Through a system of equivalencies, specific visual cues trigger various elements of sound composition. As a result, the image of “Panorama” becomes a map and a musical score of its own soundtrack.

The project, conceived by Dynamic Media Institute team: Jan Kubasiewicz, Mike Golembewski, Colin Owens, was exhibited in Berlin and Warsaw in September 2009.