Image Beyond the Screen

11Heritage Mediation through Projection Mapping

11.1. Introduction

Heritage is a cultural element whose values attributed to it by a community have transformed its status. Monuments have been of cultural, historical and symbolic interest for centuries. The Seven Wonders of the World, erected as icons by the Ancients, represented for them the most perfect works ever made; the only survivor, the Pyramid of Giza, attracts millions of tourists annually. The remains of antiquity, which served as evidence of Greek and Roman writings among humanists, then represented a documentary value for scholars described as “antique dealers” (Choay 1999) until the 19th Century. The historical monument, later consecrated by other values, such as cognitive, then becomes central in the discipline of art history.

From objects of contemplation and study, monuments have evolved into objects of artistic creation through different practices, for example, by shedding light on them from the 19th Century onwards in Paris, or by interventions such as Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s packaging on icons such as the Reichstag or the Pont-Neuf. But monuments, while serving as a medium for artistic practice, are also sometimes vehicles for social practice, as in Krzysztof Wodiczko’s projections, which offer a critique of the world and inequalities. The built heritage represents rich opportunities for artistic creation thanks to its status which distinguishes it from other common buildings. This monumental status ...