PUNO Virtual Gallery as an Example of Using New Technologies in Education with Art Practice
(a speech with Jarosław Solecki)
In October 2019 PUNO celebrated its 80th anniversary. We had the opportunity of designing visual representations of this event as well as the accompanying exhibition. The exhibition included historical documents and items related to PUNO, a timeline of events, and the artistic part consisting of portraits of the Rectors and an animation titled The Idea Lives thanks to People. In addition to providing aesthetic impressions, all of these elements were to serve a didactic function. We were working on something ephemeral. The exhibition was to last only two weeks, the anniversary celebration itself was to be even shorter. Thinking about preserving the educational and historical values led us to the idea of documenting the exhibition and making it widely available. After the exhibition ended its elements were transferred to the virtual world. We would like to present the gallery app we created with Juan Valencia and show its didactic possibilities. The exhibition named Re-imaginary Architecture: 80 Years PUNO is a virtual archive available through web browsers on various devices. It is based on photographic documentation that has been adapted to 3D objects and adds a very attractive element of immersion to the idea of an internet gallery. By researching the process of viewing an artwork by cultural participants, we were able to design the interface of the app in an attempt to bring its user closer to the experience they know from a real museum or art gallery. We extend this experience with easy access to additional information. At the same time, we use solutions known from games, both in the visual layer and in the code itself. The interface has been designed in accordance with good UX practices and experience we have gained during various digital projects in our Lingua-Branding Laboratory.