CORPORATE UNCONSCIOUS AND THE VIDEOWALK FORMAT
1.1 Background and Context
1.2 Research Question
1.3 Objectives and Scope
1.4 Structure of the Thesis
2. Corporate Unconscious 2.1 Credits
2.2 Description
2.3 Video Documentation
2.4 Synopsis
2.5 Full Text
3. Theoretical framework 3.1 Videowalk: Exploring the Format
3.1.1. Walking as a type of art.3.1.2 Audiowalks
3.1.3 The emergence of Videowalk
3.1.4 Choosing the format3.2 Site-Specific Art and Spatial Narratives
3.3 Engaging Audiences in a Constructed Reality
3.3.1 Illusion and Engagement: The Rubber Hand Effect in Theater
3.3.2 We should invent reality before filming it
3.3.3 Simul Entertainment GmbH3.4 Meta-Score
4. Creative process 4.1 Concept Development
4.1.1 Synchronicity and simultaneity.
4.1.2 Corporate Language as a Narrative Tool4.2 Space research
4.3 Development of visual, auditory and performative identity
4.3.1 Corporate Identity
4.3.2 Art Direction and Stage Design
4.3.3 Performativity
4.3.4 Costumes
4.3.5 Music composition
4.3.6 Cinematography4.4 Dramaturgy and Script Development
4.4.1 Narrative Layers
4.4.2 Storytelling
4.4.3 Dramaturgical arc
4.4.4 Space Score and Timing4.5 Videowalk Production phases
4.5.1 Creation of Fake Historical Footage
4.5.2 Videowalk Filming
4.5.3 3D Modeling and Scanning of the Space
4.5.4 VFX Development and 3D Animated Scenes
4.5.5 Documentary Development4.6 Performance and Participation4.6.1 Installations & self-reflective moments
4.6.2 Leveled performances
4.6.3 Fake participants and recursive participation
4.6.4 Easter eggs4.7 Multimedia Techniques
4.7.1 LiDAR Scanning and As-build modeling
4.7.2 On-site shading and texturing
4.7.3 Character and animations
4.7.4 Camera tracking and VFX compositing
4.7.5 Virtual production and "inverse virtual production"
4.7.6 Video Game development
4.7.7 Spatial audio
4.7.8 AI text models
4.7.9 iOS playback app
5. Conclusion
6. Acknowledgments
7. References
Walking has been elevated to an art form by numerous artists who have infused it with intentionality and conceptual depth. This transformation of walking into an artistic act can be traced back to the practices of Land artists in the 1960s and 1970s. Artists like Hamish Fulton and Richard Long have positioned walking as a central element of their work, using it to explore, document, and interact with the natural landscape and urban environments.
Hamish Fulton, known for his walking-based art, has dedicated his practice to the experience of walking. Unlike traditional landscape artists who capture nature from a distance, Fulton immerses himself within the environment, allowing the landscape to dictate his artistic journey. His works, such as 21 Days in the Cairngorms (2010), do not manipulate the landscape but rather document the act of walking through diverse terrains. These walks are transformed into art through photographs, text, and sketches that reflect his experiences, emphasizing the process over the final product and highlighting the intrinsic value of the walking act itself.
Similarly, Richard Long's work revolves around the act of walking, which he uses to create art directly within the landscape, such as arranging stones in a line or creating circular patterns, or documenting the path he has traveled in photographs and maps. His piece A Line Made by Walking (1967) perfectly encapsulates this idea: it is simply a photograph of a straight line in grass, created by the action of walking back and forth. Through this, Long transforms a simple, physical act into a profound artistic gesture, playing with the boundaries between sculpture, land art, and performance.
Furthermore, the concept of walking as art is not confined to rural landscapes. Urban walks, influenced by the Situationists' dérive, encourage wandering through cityscapes to understand and experience the urban environment in new, unexpected ways. The dérive, or drift, proposed by Guy Debord and other Situationists, was aimed at challenging the conventional navigation and understanding of urban spaces, promoting an aimless wandering that allows for the discovery of the psycho-geographical contours of these environments.
Francis Alÿs further explores the performative aspect of walking in urban settings through works like The Green Line (2004), where he walked through Jerusalem dripping a line of green paint to trace the 1949 Armistice Border. This walk, while simple in action, is loaded with political, social, and historical implications, showcasing how walking can serve as a powerful tool for commentary and intervention in the social fabric.
Whether through the solitary treks of Hamish Fulton and Richard Long or the politically charged pathways of Francis Alÿs, walking transcends mere physical activity to become a medium for artistic expression and exploration. Walking as an art form is not a precursor to videowalk necessarily, but an interesting counterpart where the act of simple displacement through space, triggers the artwork.