maybe an odd association, Jason Baerg’s northern lights, Jayanne English outreach pictures of the sky and Nada Boustany visualization of cell death have a lot to share after all: they both try to interpret and reconstruct narratives originating from the sight and the impression of light. they meet under the name of translation and outreach: the one that tries to make things more appealing and palatable to a wider audience and that tries to get a mediated story across. the difference lies in the topics: traditional narratives versus scientific data.
With his project, now in development and about to be turned into a 9 episodes animation series, Baerg engages with First Nation legends that explain the existence of the northern lights. his ambitions are multiple: in fact, Northern lights aims to “educate the public to Canada’s Aboriginals relations to this phenomenon” and tries to capture the interest of First Nations youth. At the same time, Baerg seeks to reconstruct a comprehensive narrative that collects and combines the many and diverse stories narrated by the Elders. Finally, a outreach effort, he decided to transmit this enterprise with virtual rendition, 3D games and animation, performing several layers of translations that bridge different generations (elders vs youth), different interpretations and different means of communications (form oral communication to visual).
some examples:
http://www.stormspirits.ca/English/plain_truth/
http://www.youtube.com/user/painteravantvangarde