World at War

The object of this project was to illustrate a facet of Ron Burnett’s concept of “Image Worlds.” Burnett talks about how, as a result of technology being so prevalent in our lives now, we can no longer truly treat ourselves as discretely removed objects from the events depicted on TV, internet websites, etc. In other words: Burnett suggests the easy availability of these images of events elsewhere lets the viewer consume, internalize, personify, and in discussion use language to approximate “being there.”

So the specific aim on my project was to design a website with some parallax elements and css masking properties to create a narrative that follows perspectives from WWII—a time where technology was nowhere near as available as it is today—but with the interpretation that there were many more tvs available in American households before 1941. The parallax scrolling sections of the website are from multiple persons across Europe. The parallax design was chosen to feel more immersive. The css masking portions of the website are meant to represent American perspectives back home as though they were viewing the events on TV. I wanted to illustrate how Americans might’ve reacted differently had TV been present to allow Burnett’s Image Worlds to redefine and challenge America’s stance on foreign affairs.

• Every div has sound and/or video attached. Adjust your volume and please be patient while it loads.
• The knobs on the television are interactive.
• Left-most knob affects volume.
• Middle knob "turns off" video for blank tv screen
• Right knob "changes the channel" to one other channel
• You'll have to refresh the page to reset the knobs.
• Hover over each knob to see American viewer's thoughts