iMMERSE! with Charlie Morrow

Thomas Kraupe - Immersion Magician 18

Thomas Kraupe is a German astrophysicist who specialized in x-ray astronomy at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. He’s managed a kind of magical situation by combining math & physics with his love of planetariums & music to create numerous interactive edutainment & art science crossover projects that have attracted artists such as Snap, Heaven 17 & Pink Floyd at several planetariums most recently as Director of Planetarium Hamburg, which he transformed into one of the most advanced planetariums in the world before retiring in late 2022. He continues to serve as a consultant for immersive theaters worldwide. I met Thomas in Colorado Springs, Colorado at one of the first immersive gatherings.His invitation for me to join & chair the International Planetarium Society Committee for Immersive Sound has opened the door for many projects. Charlie Morrow & Thomas again crossed paths at Imersa Montreal 2022.
All iMMERSE! texts & transcripts available here: https://www.charliemorrow.com/immerse-podcast.html
* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga

Luc Courchesne - Pioneering Immersion Worldwide 17

Canadian artist-professor Luc Courchesne was an early convert to media arts some 50 years ago. He began utilizing computer technologies in 1984 to create interactive video and later with his immersive and interactive installations, "panoscopic" images, and devices of his own, he helped transform spectators into visitors, actors and inhabitants of his experiential crafts. Charlie Morrow interviews on immersive common ground.
Read entire interview pdf here
* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga

Claude Schryer - Immersion in Hope 16

Canadian Claude Schryer is a Zen practitioner who believes in the power of art to shape a better future & dedicates much of his life to this pursuit. He has been a sound & media artist, having released several electroacoustic soundscape CDs in the 90s. for 20 years, He served as an arts administrator with the Canada Council for the Arts in Inter-Arts after creating that department. 
Schryer is  an environmental activist and in 2020 launched his bilingual ‘radical listening’ Conscient podcast, which explores art and the ecological crisis. He also offers workshops on art and sound & the climate emergency.  
When I heard Schryer’s podcast with Hildegard Westerkamp, I was moved as much by the interviewer as by his inspiring guest. Thoughtful dialogue and warm atmosphere. I reached out to Schryer and came away with this interview. He is enthusiastic and engaged. He welcomed the opportunity to discuss immersion and the moderating of a podcast. Midway through our interview, he turned the tables and began interviewing me and, in the end, we each came away with our own podcast – one for immerse!, a second for Conscient. 
Schryer: “The world’s a bad place and there are those who are raising awareness. And there are those who say: Here’s what you can do about it. That sort of action-oriented activist, engagé art. And then there’s a third category of escapists and dreamers, also very important ... so somewhere between those who are raising awareness, those who are inciting us into action and those who are helping us escape from it.”
Read entire interview pdf here
* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga

Ian McLennan - The Immersive Planetarium 15

“I realized that we were going to be able to take audiences & immerse them in the universe, take them on a journey & surround them with the mystery & the beauty of the universe.”
Ian McLennan is a pioneer in the development of planetariums, museums, science centers, & other high-content public attractions. Based in Vancouver, Canada, he has shepherded attractions from the days before Imax to international fairs to today's immersive projects. He’s also music lover & a lover of his daily walks during which he captures special moments in his photographs.  I met him through Dan Neafus at Imersa in Denver, when he was being honored for his life's work in the field of planetariums, science domes & immersive environments.  
Read entire interview pdf here
* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga
 

Revisiting Michael Gerzon - Ambisonics & Immersive Sound 0b

A re-airing of the iMMERSE! with Charlie Morrow pilot broadcast, with a new special introduction. A special 80-minute celebration & investigation of the life & work of audio pioneer Michael Gerzon, inventor of Ambisonics & lossless audio, which revolutionized recorded sound. The podcast series launch came in conjunction with the immerse! online event: Celebration of the Vernal Equinox & Michael Gerzon on Sunday March 20, 2022.
Read entire interview pdf here
* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga
 

Dan Neafus - Fulldome Immersion 14

Neafus as the co-founder of IMERSA has hosted numerous international fulldome summits & is considered a pioneer in the field of immersive & experiential arts & technology. He strives for the synergistic convergence of the fulldome experience, VR, immersive cinema, science, education, culture & performance art. Charlie Morrow came into contact with him via the planetarium & fulldome people & became involved in Imersa where he became intrigued by their activities & was invited to participate in various fulldome events. Neafus & Ka Chun Yu have been large influences on Morrow’s immersive work. For a perspective on pre-computer immersive events & technologies such as panoramic paintings, listen to Ka Chun Yu’s podcast here: https://admin5.podbean.com/immerseSoundLightSpace/episodes/form/pP06bPSEqubX
Read entire interview pdf here
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Ka Chun Yu - Immersion Before Computers 13

The immerse! project was initially sparked by astrophysicist-educator Ka Chun Yu’s essay, "A Brief History of Immersive Experiences Before Computers." Yu is the Curator of Space Science at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. He has performed educational research on the utilization of digital planetariums for the teaching of astronomy & has created numerous planetarium shows as a universe maker & conceptualist.
I met Yu in Denver around 2002 while he was working on immersive content for the Gates Planetarium. Since then, he has contributed to my sound & animation exhibit for the Canadian Joggins Fossil Cliffs Museum & my sonic journey called "Land Sea Air -  Sonic Journey from 400 million years to the present & beyond" that was exhibited in New York & London. 
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* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga

Monica Bolles - Immersed in the Brain 12

Monica Bolles already wears many hats. She’s an artist, music producer, audio engineer, and composer who is very involved in three-dimensional environments and the creation of immersive experiences, especially in full-dome setting. She loves exploring the fusion of multimedia arts, science, sound, and immersive environments that submerge the audience in multi-sensory sonic, visual, and tactile sensations. 
Read entire interview pdf here
* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga

Rip Hayman - Forever Reverb Immersion 11

Capt. Rip Hayman (US Merchant Marine) is a sailing musician & musical sailor who has traveled to many faraway places at sea & in sound imagination. He eventually became a mainstay of the Ear Inn & New Wilderness crew. Produced events like Dreamsound for sleeping audience, Blindsound for blind audience and On the Way, a film & sound meditation on his near death experience.
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William Fitzhugh - Immersed in the Arctic 10

American archaeologist & anthropologist heads the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Center & is a Senior Scientist at the National Museum of Natural History. He's done extensive research on the history & archaeology of Arctic peoples & their responses to climate change. Morrow & Fitzhugh worked together on Fitzhugh’s exhibit The Vikings, which made the cover of Time & Morrow’s Solstice 24, a 24-hr celebration of the summer solstice.
Read entire interview pdf here
* production & audio backdrop: bart plantenga