Playful Communication of Serious Research: Brainstorming

Our group is interested in the topic of archaeology for our interactive exhibition. Two possible research groups that we have reached out to and heard back from are:

• The Stadium at Aphrodisias, a NYU Archeology site

• North Abydos Expedition, a NYU & Princeton Archeology site

The first site revolves around excavating a Roman Imperial City located in modern day Turkey and the second around Egyptian archeological records that spans predynastic to the late antique periods. Both have been fascinating and inspiring to us for our brainstorming session.

Aerial photo of the Stadium at Aphrodisias.

Photo taken at the excavation site in Abydos.

Our big questions are: how do we make antiquity feel relevant? Why should people be interested in a far-off time and place? How can we solve the problem of working with ancient artifacts that we do not have available to us? Below are some notes from our discussions:

Projection Mapping

• With physical interaction as trigger 

Digital Representations

• Laying out the road and explaining how people got from one place to another

Non-Linear Timelines

• Buried layers underground, steering away from traditional timeline

• Animating a map over time

Recreating Spaces/Lives at the Human Scale

• Interactive components such as costume/ jewelry/ buildings or structures/ artifacts

• Educational for kids

Emotional Quality

• Awe and wonder; mystery

• Relatable; not distant or separate from our daily lives

Visual References