Ms Samantha Kitchener

Research project: How can interaction with digital technology enhance perception of space? The case of the disused steelworks Dorman Long; by offering an alternative experience of landscape, people and time.

Abstract

Dorman Long's industrial silhouette sits upon the North-eastern horizon. Since its closure in 2012, the site operates as a reminder of the ways in which industrial technologies make way for digital automation. Following the discovery of iron ore in the Cleveland Hills, the Dorman Long company formed in 1875. Also known as Redcar Steel Works it has literally transformed the Global landscape.  This practice-based project investigates the relationship between the poetics that lie within digital technologies used in architecture and how emergent technological tools such as 3D laser scanning, photo mapping and satellite imagery directly intervene with how we feel, perceive and understand complex heritage sites. The project investigates how digital tools have the potential to augment forgotten landscapes and reach poetics. 

  • Research degree: PhD
  • Title of project: How can interaction with digital technology enhance perception of space? The case of the disused steelworks Dorman Long; by offering an alternative experience of landscape, people and time.

Biography

Towards the end of my BA I became interested in the acceleration of digital technologies and the subsequent decelerative movements in society. My MA focussed on the origin of the word 'technology' in Techne and the interstices between humanity and technology. The projects looked at enhancing perception of urban landscapes and heritage sites through digital technologies and data gathered from social media such as Geo-tagging, Instagram and Twitter as well as Google Earth and Google Maps. The outcomes were presented through performance, moving image, graphic design, image-making and installation.

Through the practice of architecture and experiential design I implement audiovisual and 3D mapping tools to enhance the way we perceive landscape, people and social history. Offering digital technology as a tool for shared experience, emotional response and community

Areas of research interest

  • Industrial Heritage
  • Architecture
  • Experiential Design
  • Remote Sensing
  • Landscape Perception
  • Visual Communication
  • Philosophy of Technology
  • The Contemporary Sublime
  • Hauntology
  • Community History

Qualifications

  • MA, Visual Communication, Royal College of Art
  • BA (Hons), Graphic Design, Brighton University
  • BTEC (ND), Moving Image and Photography, Cleveland College of Art and Design

Funding or awards received

  • The Varley Award Finalist, Royal College of Art
  • Best Student Book Finalist, British Book Awards
  • Typographer of the Year, Brighton University

Publications

Publication

June 2018  Explain Yourself/ Show Yourself / Content Free, Content-free.net

June 2018 Royal College of Art Grad Show / Royal College of Art, RCA.ac.uk

July 2016 Brighton Show 2016 / Brighton University, Brighton

November 2015 Cause An Effect / British Book Design and Production Awards, London

November 2014 The Homework Club / Brighton University, Brighton

Exhibition

June/July 2018 Royal College of Art: Show '18 / Westworks, White City, London

February 2018 Work In Progress Show / Royal College of Art, White City, London

March 2017 Graphic Humanities / Royal College of Art, Hockney Gallery, London

July 2016 Brighton Show / The Laundry Building, London Fields, London

June 2016 Brighton Grad Show / Brighton University, Grand Parade, Brighton

March 2015 In Through The Outdoor / Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade, Brighton

November 2014 The Homework Club / Circus Street Market, Brighton