Saad Maqbool

Thesis

Story Seeds - Growing Storied Experiences from Outdoor Cultural Heritage Sites through Tangible Interactive Artefacts

The thesis explores shared stories, considering how they mutate through content and media, adapting to resonate with people over time. The project aims to look at how we can generate storied experience for visitors at outdoor cultural heritage sites in the form of interactive artefacts. It recognises that the stories and experiences that are remembered and told will always be different, affected by a number of factors - such as temperature, weather, time of day etc.

Central to the aims of the thesis is challenging ‘normative’ heritage practice which traditionally focuses on preservation and will focus on contemporary studies that acknowledge heritage as ‘curated decay’, managing a nuanced understanding of conservation not preservation. Further, it will unpack issues with traditional historic preservation that can be perpetuated due to current approaches in Digital Heritage - what kinds of stories are preserved (or not preserved) and if there is any consideration for sustainability for the future. With these themes acknowledged, Story Seeds will use ‘decay’ to create dynamic responsive stories that shift and change, facilitated by digital media that respond to their current context, ‘mutating’ in response to their environment and their current owners.