War in Afghanistan
Tactile experience and film at the Royal Arsenal

Development of the project
From the beginning of the project, No Parking was part of a development team, that focused on creating a sensual and living exhibition. The focus of the project was to tell the story from the Danish soldiers point-of-view, in a set design that was as authentic as possible. In order to obtain this, we wanted to have as few text plates as possible. Instead, there would be touch-screens, where the visitors could explore information with video, text and images.Case_afghan_side-1

Sensual exhibition

When you enter the exhibition, you will be met by a sound and lighting design, that once in a while transforms from busy and warm day, to silent and blue night. There are multiple audio speakers that enhance the direction of sounds – like helicopters flying across the exhibition area. Most of the lighting comes from programmable LED spotlights, that change the color of light through extensive programming. Also, in certain areas of the exhibition there are motion sensors, that react to visitors – for example a barking dog reacts to entering an Afghan compound.

To support the sensual experience in the exhibition, No Parking has made several projections – for example imagery of a sky with floating clouds, or the view form a watch tower. The projections follow the cycle of light and sound, and also change into night, once in a while. In part of the exhibition that is build up as a military camp, No Parking has created a rear-projection that covers the inside wall of a tent. When a visitor enters the tent, a motion sensor is triggered, and an officer appears on the screen, giving the visitor an “Evening Briefing” – a status report about the activities and consequences of the war.


Facts on Touch Screens

In order to cover all items and facts, the exhibition called for 22 touch-screens – and each of them contained a minimum of one video, where veteran soldiers with different functions, told about their functions. Each of the videos had a duration of about 3 minutes. When added up, the total duration of edited videos exceeds 100 minutes. No Parking travelled around for almost 2 weeks, interviewing more than 50 war veterans about their functions and experiences in the war.

Apart from watching the films, visitors can explore information about objects and related subjects, on the many screens. No Parking has designed and programmed the application in a way so it is easy to update the data.