The Zion schoolhouse provided us with a rich history which included archival materials such as books, maps, and records from the time when the school was operational. The place is unique in its preservation of history as it appears to be frozen in time but also reflects the changing attitudes of our time such as the removal of the Union Jack that once hung on the walls.

The time we spent immersed on location led us to reflections on the idea of power, the role of education in the advancement of colonialism, settler-colonial violence, and indigenous erasure. Our reflections led to vibrant discussions of what it means to be educated: what is education?

Brainstorming and reflecting after visits to the schoolhouse.

We drew on threads of colonial influences in our personal experiences as people from lands with violent colonial histories. Looking at the grid like layout of the students desks and the meticulous tabular records in the classrooom texts and ledgers, We considered the ways in which education can be used to enforce colonial order. Was there room for disruption and play within the strict boundaries and classifications of a colonial education.

We experimented with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and NERFs (NEural Radiance Field) as tools to portray the "frozenness" of the schoolhouse as well as the "shifting" of the idea of order left behind by colonialism. We looked at time as a means for disruption thus world we created reflected a metaphorical deterioration and decay but also the ghostly nature and lingering presence of the system that still remains.

Process images of building the scene in Unity.

The artifacts that we placed into the Unity 3D scene were captured on site using digital scanning technology app Luma AI