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The tree as storied experience: an experiment in new narrative forms

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The tree as storied experience: an experiment in new narrative forms

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THE TREE AS STORIED EXPERIENCE:
AN EXPERIMENT IN NEW NARRATIVE FORMS

by
Maya Sara Churi

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
(INTERACTIVE MEDIA)

May 2009

Copyright 2009 Maya Sara Churi

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Gene
Andreas
Hide
Ariel
Shelly
Randy
Erin
Diana
Diane
Rilo
Mike
August
Steve
Peter
Perry
Anne
Mark
Peggy
Scott


iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ii
List of Figures iv
Abstract v
Introduction ‐ The Diorama 1
The Narrative Experience 2
The Active Participant 3
Storied Experience – A Definition 3
Project Description – The Tree 5
Early Experiments 5
Feedback 6
Visual Experiments 7
Designing the Physical Interface 12
Designing the Visual Language 14
Summary 15
References 17

iv

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Diorama at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art 1
Figure 2: Noah’s Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center Los Angeles 4
Figure 3: Experiment #1 6
Figure 4: Experiment #2 7
Figure 5: Initial Drawings of the afterimage 9
Figure 6: Pinhole Photograph test 9
Figure 7: Pinhole Photograph test 9
Figure 8: Pinhole Photograph test 9
Figure 9: Pinhole Photograph w/ negative afterimage 10
Figure 10: Stereocard 11
Figure 11: Stereocard as afterimage 11
Figure 12: Final visual memory interpretation 12
Figure 13: Three‐ring prototype 13
Figure 14: Final Controller 14



v
ABSTRACT
There is a space within design, a highly contextual, narrative space where
constructed reality and story merge with physical and virtual interfaces. In this paper I will
explore the process of creating an interface where the design of the physical controls of the
interactive experience is innately entwined into the story itself.
This type of design is rarely explored outside of a few highly regarded science and
children’s museums. Places where the research about development of the human mind at a
young age plays directly into the experiences provided. But as we get older those designs
become less abundant in creating meaningful and constructed narratives that enhance the
experience.
With my thesis The Tree I am experimenting with a framework for creating
contextual narrative designs that explore the layers of story that can exist within both the
physical and the virtual interface.



1
INTRODUCTION THE DIORAMA
The most familiar part of any Natural History Museum is the Diorama (Fig.1). Those
who visit these museums are quickly drawn to the large, dark rooms where the walls are
windows into other worlds. These much loved 3‐dimensional depictions of wild animals
and historical figures in their natural habitats allowed viewers to travel through time and
space before photography or movies even existed. Yet, they are not unlike a photograph or
a film. Just as with their emulsion or pixel based counterparts Diorama’s stage an evocative
narrative experience for the visitor. Having always been fascinated by the narrative
qualities of the diorama, it is this experience ‐ and thinking about how interactivity can be
integrated ‐ that will be explored further in this paper and through my thesis installation,
The Tree.

Fig. 1. The Elephant Diorama at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum



2
THE NARRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Narrative, as defined by Jerome Bruner in his essay The Narrative Construction of
Reality, is “an account of events occurring over time.”(1) This is similar to Aristotle's
definition of plot (often used interchangeably with narrative) as “the arrangement of the
incidents.”(2) And yet there is a distinct difference between the two. “An account” could be
an organic remembrance of events or incidents where as “An arrangement” is a conscious
positioning of those same events or incidents.   Though the difference is subtle it is
significant when considering the design of diorama’s and other museum exhibits and what
type of narrative experience they will evoke for the visitor. Does the visitor walk away from
an exhibit with the memory of their participation in a narrative or do they walk away
having passively viewed the narrative of another? Are the visitors simply viewers or are
they participants?
If narrative is simply what Bruner describes then the term could be applied to many
abstract forms, formats and media and not simply the foundation of story. With this in mind
my central concern is not how narrative works as a foundation for story in text or other
mediums, but rather how narrative operates as “an instrument of mind in the construction
of reality.”(3) With the growing understanding of our role in the larger world around us it
has become clear that diorama’s are much more than windows into other worlds ‐ they are
windows into our world, a world we are actively involved in. Therefore, I want to explore
how we can use narrative (“events occurring over time”) to create experiences for viewers
that expand a traditionally passive role into an active one.

3
THE ACTIVE PARTICIPANT
The children’s museum is an interesting example of an environment geared towards
creating active participants. The exhibits tend to be touchable as well as visual. The
designers utilize the five senses to create a whole, immersive experience. In most instances
the experiences are isolated from one another – small sections, each geared towards a
different theme or idea. These museums strive to be educational, fun, fantastic and
exploratory and there is a free‐for‐all run around quality that children love. Walking (and
running) around the individual installations visitors get a sense of the broad themes that
the museums are exploring: science, nature, history technology. Each section is a little
snippet into a theme. But, as a whole, there is one aspect of the installations that can usually
be explored further – taken to the next narrative level. I tend to think of the next step as the
incorporation of story into the exhibit. Story in this sense doesn’t mean adding a text‐based
narrative to the experience but a sequence of multi‐layered, tangible experiences that help
the viewer construct a whole story – a big picture. An experience where the visitor enters a
make believe world and immerses themselves in it. A world they can touch. This kind of
tangible narrative is something that I refer to as a “Storied Experience.”

STORIED EXPERIENCE – A DEFINITION
A Storied Experience is any designed, multi‐layered installation in which the scenes
(visual, audible, tangible or other) are navigated by an interface which itself is integral to
the story; an installation where the method of storytelling mimics the story being told.
One of the best examples of a multi‐layered, tangible Storied Experience is the Noah’s
Ark (Fig. 2) installation at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. This experience is
separated into three areas, The Storm, The Ark and The Rainbow each allowing users to
4
control (mimic) various actions that occurred within the original biblical story of Noah’s
Ark. The act of understanding the situations which occurred within the narrative are
enhanced by the acts of the users – being able to create a thunder storm, putting the animals
two by two onto the ark, cleaning up the animal “mess,” exploring the nooks and crannies
on The Ark and finally leaving the experience and starting new.

Fig. 2. Noah’s Ark exhibit. Skirball Center, Los Angeles

The Noah’s Ark exhibit strives to have visitors experience the story of Noah and the animals
through their actions and movements through space – it is a large and completely
immersive experience. The design of the exhibit is based on a narrative and the path the
children follow is based on recreating that narrative.   Within that experience visitors
participate in a series of events occurring over time, much like Bruner’s definition of
narrative, to create their own story from their own experience.
In my article “New Paths in Storytelling” I wrote about experiencing new forms of
storytelling. In this case I was writing about online storytelling but the idea of following an
unchartered course through a narrative could apply just as easily to installations.

5
When you begin reading a book, it is a given that if you start on page one and read
each successive page you will eventually get to the end of the story. The same goes
for watching a film or a play. We sit. We watch. We leave. From childhood we are
trained that there is a known route that will get us to the end of stories. Presented in
these formats, stories are easy to navigate through. The only thing hindering our
voyage is our mind; are we paying attention or are we sleeping? But online, stories
do not always follow the course that we are accustomed to, and we must stay alert if
we are to move forward. In web stories your well‐worn directional knowledge no
longer takes you through the story. Each time you begin a new story, you must find
the starting point, chart a new path, then head out onto unstable waters.(4)

The purpose of my thesis is to create an installation that experiments with the idea
of a Storied Experience on a smaller scale and embraces the idea that, within this context,
Action can be the driving narrative force.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION – THE TREE
Trees are, without any human imposition, storytellers. The information stored in
their rings is a narrative “events occurring over time”, as defined by Bruner. They have
years of memories recorded, embedded, burned onto their rings. They are chemically and
physically visible and reveal such experiences as flood, drought, carbon levels and disease.
The foundation for The Tree is a fictional story in which one of the main characters is a five‐
hundred‐year‐old oak tree. This is a text‐based story about a girl who discovers she has the
power to change into other living things, including trees. During one event where she
changes into an oak tree she experiences the memories of the tree. Taking the definition of
a Storied Experience into account the goal of The Tree project is to turn this story into an
interactive experience – much like the designers of Noah’s Ark did with the biblical tale.

EARLY EXPERIMENTS
The first design attempt was to focus on what it FELT like to be a tree. The designs
explored the physical sensation of being a large, rooted, solid wood organism that had no
6
control over its environment. With this in mind, the use of screens and projectors as visual
aids were dismissed for the initial experiments because the feeling of being a tree should be
physical and internal and to externalize it through visuals would distract from the
experience.

FEEDBACK
In the initial experiments with children they were rooted in place by wrapping
fabric around their legs and asked to think of themselves as trees. Their reaction to being
rooted, their comfort level, their engagement and how they physically evoked trees were
the main feedback I was interested in. Through the experiment I discovered that being
rooted helped them see themselves as trees and gave them more stability to move their
branches (arms) around. (Fig. 3)

  Fig. 3 Experiment #1


For the second experiment I increased the size of the rooted area. Instead of
confining just their legs I wrapped their body in cardboard and asked them to do the same
thing. (Fig. 4) The affect was not nearly as good. When the entire body was confined they
were unstable and this instability made it difficult for them to feel free to express
themselves.
7

Fig. 4 Experiment #2

More than anything the experiment taught me that there needed to be more to
“feeling” like a tree than just giving someone a scenario in which they can imagine they are
one. That’s when I started thinking about a visual component to the project – something I
had originally dismissed.

VISUAL EXPERIMENTS
This phase of the design started the question “If the rings stored visual memories
how would a tree perceive them?” Science has told us that the memories of a tree exist in its
rings. Just as with humans, trees experience the act of building memories. “Memory” stated
Jonah Lehrer, “is a physical trace left in your brain made largely of protein. Whenever you
create a memory it is an act of cellular construction.”(5) If this is the case for humans it can
also be applied to trees as the “act of cellular construction” onto a tree’s rings is apparent
through scientific data. There is no question of memory when it comes to trees. It is
perception of those memories that we don’t fully understand. For the purposes of my thesis
I chose to use this core idea (the memories of a tree) to create a Storied Experience about
trees. The first consideration in creating a narrative about a tree was the P.O.V. As one of
8
the oldest living organisms on the planet and one that has no control over its environment I
chose to keep the tree as a passive observer of the environment around itself – at least in
the beginning. As one progresses through the experience the tree’s voice develops through
its changing memories. Even though the tree is passive, its voice is there through the
choices it makes in the memories to keep, what to change, what to focus on and how to
manipulate them. The tree is also the only constant in the changing world around it.
Given that the narrative is from the P.O.V. of a tree and its memories, it would be necessary
to articulate how those memories are experienced. This left a lot of room for research and
experimentation. Using original, found photographs as well as animation I experimented
with different ways to show what those memories could look like. But, before I discuss the
actual images I want to give a context for the visual component and a framework for the
inspiration.
A tree does not have three‐dimensional operational space as defined by Jakob von
Uexkull in his discussion on Effector Space. According to Uexkull there is a relationship
between the semicircle canals situated in the middle ear and the three planes of operational
space. “This relationship is so clearly proven by numerous experiments that we can make
the assertion; all animals possessing the three canals also have a three‐dimensional
operations space.”(6)   A tree does not possess the three canals and therefore cannot
perceive this type of space. This discovery made it apparent that a tree’s perception of
memories should be explored in two‐dimensional space.
Considering the fact that the memories of a tree are stored on its rings the
next question was how are they stored? This led to an association between
memories that are burned or engrained onto rings and the retinal afterimage. The
Encyclopedia Britannica defines the retinal afterimage as a “visual illusion in which
retinal impressions persist after the removal of a stimulus, believed to be caused by
9
the continued activation of the visual system.” This retinal afterimage, or imprint of
memory left behind, was the starting point for the tree’s visual perception. (Fig. 5)

  (Fig. 5) Initial drawings of the afterimage

In Jonathan Crary’s Techniques of the Observer he discusses how “in the early
nineteenth century, particularly with Goethe, such afterimage experiences attain the status
of optical ‘truth.’” He says that, “For Goethe and the physiologists who followed him there
was no such thing as optical illusion: whatever the healthy corporal eye experienced was in
fact optical truth.”(7)
Taking the idea of this “optical truth” as the first step in (re)creating the visual
perception of a tree I continued to look for other ways of imprinting or burning a memory.
This led directly to pinhole photography, which uses no lens and simply burns the image
onto the film. After shooting pinhole photographs (Fig.6,7,8) I combined them with the
negative afterimages. (Fig.9)

10

Fig. 6,7,8 Pinhole Photographs

  Fig.9 Pinhole Photograph w/ negative afterimage

But the question arose, does the afterimage represent something that once
was real or is it a memory of something that once was real? “The afterimage‐the
presence of sensation in the absence of a stimulus‐and its subsequent modulations
posed a theoretical and empirical demonstration of autonomous vision, of an optical
experience that was produced by and within the subject.” (8)
If the afterimage was “produced by and within the subject” then it is not
necessarily reality. It is the internal perception of reality by the subject. Moving
forward in the search for a tree’s visual perception led me to Barthes discussion of
resurrection in Camera Lucida.
11
Photography has something to do with resurrection…which no realist
painting would give me, that they were there; what I see is not a memory, an
imagination, a reconstitution, piece of Maya, such as art lavishes upon us, but
reality as a past state: at once the past and the real.(9)

This led to a deeper integration of the afterimage as discussed by Crary and
the photograph as discussed by Barthes. Seeking some sort of “optical truth” I
purchased stereocards (Fig.10) and integrated the actual photographs
(resurrections) with the idea of the retinal afterimage. (Fig. 11)

Fig. 10 Stereocard

Fig. 11 Stereocards as afterimages

This left me with two potentially conflicting ideas. One is the reality
perceived by humans and the other is the trees perception of reality. I found myself
going back to the original retinal afterimage drawing and came up with an alternate
that combines both realities. (Fig.12)
12

  Fig. 12

DESIGNING THE PHYSICAL INTERFACE
In designing the physical interface there were a few considerations that were vital
to the concept of a Storied Experience. The interface itself had to be integral to the story, the
place where the memories were held had to be true to the tree and it needed to have a
multi‐generational appeal so the adults and children (alone or together) could turn the
rings. That left only one choice for the design of the physical interface and that was to use
the rings of the tree as the core mechanic for controlling the installation.
I started out by creating some paper storyboards that mimicked the rings of a tree.
Each storyboard had a series of rings and on the rings were memories (represented by
silhouettes). As the user turned the rings the memories would slide across the stage
(screen). By turning the various rings different memories would appear on the stage at the
same time. The idea was that as the different memories appeared on the screen they would
interact with each other to create entirely new memories. On paper the concept worked.
13
But to make the experience into a Storied Experience the interface had to made from the
slice of an actual tree.
Working closely with a woodworker we built an initial three‐ring prototype (Fig.
13) out of misc. pieces of wood to see if we could get the turning mechanism working. One
of the early experiments revealed that users knew instinctually what do to with the
interface. They wanted to turn the rings without any instruction. The three‐ring prototype
was a success and although created in a fairly rough and tumble way (misc. wood pieces,
ball bearing balls from the bike shop, electrical tape) it was enough to signify we were
headed in the right direction. But in order to bring the story to life we needed the interface
to be cut from an actual slice of a tree‐ with rings visible. The story was about a tree
therefore the interface needed to be a tree.

Fig. 13 Three‐ring prototype

There was one major issue with the wood. In order use an actual slice of a tree it
would have to be dried – which can take months. There was not enough time to get the
wood and dry it ourselves. We began thinking about other options for wood and exploring
ways to incorporate the grain into the look of rings. Luckily we ended up finding cut, dried,

14
and oiled slices of a tree approximately the size we wanted. We bought two slices of an Ash
tree because it is a strong wood and the rings were clearly visible. (Fig. 14) We built a stand
for the controller and began work on the electronics that would control the animations.

Fig. 14 Final Controller

DESIGNING THE VISUAL LANGUAGE
The next step was the animations. With the visual language of the piece decided
upon, the next step was bringing the memories to life. Using a green screen and digital
camera I shot the three main characters enacting various memories then put the movies,
frame by frame through a vectorizing and simplifying process that gave them the quality I
was looking for. The process ended up being much more cumbersome than I first
anticipated.
When first considering my options I knew that there were two ways I could have
gone about this process. I could have made the silhouettes in After Affects and imported the
movies into Flash. But this route left me with some problems. I needed the memories to be
able to change – to morph – as memories do. And the bitmaps would mean that each change
15
would have to be fully scripted and shot on green screen. The silhouettes needed to be in
vectors so they could change organically. The process I finally chose involved breaking the
video up frame by frame, opening each frame in Photoshop, extracting the green and filling
the subject with black in order to turn them into a silhouette. Each frame then had to be
imported into Illustrator and converted into vectors. In most cases the additional step of
simplifying the vector also had to be done. Luckily the majority of this process could be
automated. Though placing each frame – frame by frame – into Flash had to be done by
hand.

SUMMARY
The Tree explores the idea of a Storied Experience on a smaller scale, in a smaller
space. The size and scale of any Storied Experience should be story dependent. This idea
that each individual aspect of a story could be incorporated into something larger is what
first inspired me to explore the theme of The Tree – which is ultimately part of something
much larger. It also gave me the inspiration to explore the idea that the materials used to
create an installation enhance the narrative experience by relating directly to the story that
is being told. In this case using a slice of a tree as the interface directly relates to the
narrative of the memories of trees.
Recently, as I’ve been working on The Tree and mulling over the concept of a Storied
Experience I’ve continued to come back to one word that encompasses the sentiment that
these types of layered installations evoke. That sentiment is Sympathy. Sympathy that
evokes shared feelings between the narrative protagonist(s) and the visitor. For years
Diorama’s and the dramatic stories they tell have done this. They create sympathy for
characters we are unfamiliar with, in settings we have never been to. They have drawn

16
visitors to distant lands and given them the sense that they were explorers. The Tree takes
the feelings of sympathy that can be evoked through all forms of media, and explores how
that sentiment can be enhanced through Action.




17
REFERENCES
(2) Aristotle. Aristotle’s Poetics. Hill and Wang, 1961. Pg. 62
(9)Barthes, Roland. Camera Lucida. Hill and Wang, 1981. Pg. 98
(1)Bruner, Jerome. The Narrative Construction of Reality, Critical Inquiry 18:1
  (Autumn 1991): Pg. 6
(3) Bruner, Jerome. The Narrative Construction of Reality, Critical Inquiry 18:1
  (Autumn 1991): Pg. 6
(7)Crary, Jonathan. Techniques of the Observer, M.I.T. Press 1990 Pg.97
(8)Crary, Jonathan. Techniques of the Observer, M.I.T. Press 1990 Pg.98
(4)Churi, Maya. New Paths in Storytelling, The Independent Nov. 2002
(5)Lehrer, Jonah. Memory and Forgetting, Radiolab June 8, 2007
(6)Von Uexkull, Jakob. A Stroll Through the Worlds of Animals and Men,
International Universities Press, 1957 Pg. 14

Abstract (if available)

Abstract There is a space within design, a highly contextual, narrative space where constructed reality and story merge with physical and virtual interfaces. In this paper I will explore the process of creating an interface where the design of the physical controls of the interactive experience is innately entwined into the story itself.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Churi, Maya Sara (author)

Core Title The tree as storied experience: an experiment in new narrative forms

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 04/29/2009

Defense Date 04/01/2009

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag children's museum,constructed narrative,design,exhibit design,experience design,interactive art,mixed-media,multi-media,museum design,OAI-PMH Harvest,physical interface,storied experience,story

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Kratky, Andreas (committee chair), Anderson, Steven F. (committee member), Lowenkopf, Shelly (committee member)

Creator Email maya.churi@gmail.com,mayachuri@yahoo.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m2144

Unique identifier UC1170484

Identifier etd-Churi-2882 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-221575 (legacy record id),usctheses-m2144 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Churi-2882.pdf

Dmrecord 221575

Document Type Thesis

Rights Churi, Maya Sara

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu