Exhibition of Kung Fu inspired images and animations using augmented reality. Helene has used notations of Kung Fu sequences as brief instructions to explore the physical boundaries of the human body. The result is a series of animated loops that isexhibited with the use of augmented reality.

HELENE BERG
Helene Berg is an animator and motion graphic designer that create animated stagesets, livevisuals and musicvideos. She has a background as a mime artist and dancer and often uses movement as a starting point in the creation of her work. Helene came in contact with the Kung Fu film ”Drunken Gods” during her studies at Mimlinjen at Danshögskolan. In the film the master teaches his disciple in how to use unbalance (by simulating to be drunk) as a way to confuse his combatant. Helene was fascinated by the quality of the movements, brilliantly performed by Jackie Chan, and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how they were made while playing and rewinding the VHS tape.

When she many years later found these sketches and notations, she decided to use them as a starting point and brief instructions for a new work where she uses improvisation as a tool to interpret, rather than imitate the original. One of the criteria has been that each movement shall be able to loop, meaning it has to have the same starting and ending point, The sequences were then filmed and turned into animations using rotoscoping. Helene uses animated GIFs as a format because of its ability to loop automatically. It gives the movements a character of endless perpetuum mobiles and possible reflections over human effort and limitations. The project is a tribute to the art of improvisation and one of the ambitions is to inspire the viewer to create own interpretations of the movements. The implementation of augmented reality is enabled by the Austrian Company Artivive.