The Surface of Water: Worlds of Anders Zorn

The Surface of Water is an Augmented Reality blended panoramic narrative, created for mobile AR (smart phone or tablet). Using 360° panoramas as background, the narrative segments are displayed as text or played as recorded audio. The Surface of Water is a location-based experience. The audience interacts with the panoramic narratives by accessing them at particular sites in Sweden, France, Italy and the United States, although the panoramic form also permits the audience to experience a satisfying form of the work remotely. The Surface of Water is inspired by the life and work of Swedish painter Anders Zorn (1860-1920). Joyce’s texts and the visuals by Engberg and Bolter use a method of fusing, an interweaving of different verbal, visual, and sonic languages. In the texts English, Swedish, and French are braided, making a macaronic poetic language that allows individual voices from Zorn’s life to speak.