From a taxi ride to butchering a whale: A Flash-enabled story about an Inupiat Eskimo tradition by Jonathan Harris
Written by amedeo on December 13th, 2007
Jonathan Harris executes more amazing work with his latest creation, The Whale Hunt, a Flash documentary about the Inupiat Eskimos’ 1,000-year-old tradition of whale hunting.
The inventive interface, functioning like an emotional EKG, displays 3,214 photographs taken over 7 days in ways that allows you to identify and explore mini-narratives within the overarching narrative of the hunt.
Harris lists 3 purposes for the project:
- Experiment with a new storytelling interface
- I love this one because I wasn’t even aware that computers had a perspective: To subject himself “to the same sort of incessant automated data collection process that I usually write computer programs to conduct.” Further explained with: “… rarely do humans try to see things from a computer’s perspective … I was interested in reaching some degree of empathy with the computer, a constant thankless helper in my work.”
- “Take an epic personal experience from the physical world and translate it optimally to the Internet, so that many people can share it.”
More of Harris’ work: We Feel Fine, Lovelines, Universe, 10×10, and Phylotaxis.
Via PicoCool.
