TRANSFORMATIONS

In the fall of 2013, the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense Denmark opened an interactive fairy-tale room inviting visitors of the museum into the world known fairy-tale, The Little Mermaid, by Hans Christian Andersen. The exhibition is the result of a close collaboration between the Museum and Kollision. The title, ‘Transformations’, refers to the many ambiguities in meaning and appearance throughout H. C. Andersen writings. The title also reflects an ambition of keeping the poetry and mystery of the fairy-tale intact by balancing a wordless and abstract experience-oriented installation with only partly known aspects and references to the world of Hans Christian Andersen. The installation is based on the idea that Andersen's universe should be experienced and felt – not only read and understood, signalling a new beginning and ambition for the Museum; to bring the magic of Andersen’s fairy-tales alive.

In a dark space, accessed by a descending stairway, the visitor dives into a sunken world, immersed in a gloomy and shifting underwater soundscape, and faced with a landscape of surfaces resembling H. C. Andersen's papercuts. The landscape is brought to life through a mix of realistic and abstract underwater scenery. Visitors activate content projected onto the surfaces by entering interactive zones, triggering story elements from "The Little Mermaid" – but, according to the theme of ‘Transformations’, not always quite as expected. The scenery is constantly changing, an underwater castle appears, parts of a statue reveals itself, schools of fish and a jellyfish appears in the distance and you get surprised by tentacles reaching out for you. Some elements are brought to life by the dynamic sound; others are just fleeting glimpses of narratives, appearing briefly before they are lost again in the darkness of the ocean.

Kollision, in dialogue with the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, has designed the soundscape; the visual identity and the set design, including development of the hardware layout, the sensor system and programming the dynamic player setup. Projectors and speaker system has been installed by ProShop AV and Boye Inventar has handled the laser cutting.