Dynamo Revisited

An immersive and evocative audio-visual display using 3D mapping to connect with the Dunkirk Evacuation & World War II. A development of a project from earlier this year exhibited as Dynamo: The Spirit Of Ramsgate.

 

Dynamo: The Spirit of Ramsgate was a projection created to coincide with the 85th Anniversary of the Dunkirk Evacuation. With over 70 of the Dunkirk 'Little Ships' marking the events of 1940 by re-creating the journey across the channel, this installation was installed to commemorate the sacrifice made by those involved with Operation Dynamo, particularly those in Ramsgate. Using real footage from the evacuation thanks to the Imperial War Museum, and first-hand accounts, these stories and memorials are brought to life, showing the current inhabitants of Ramsgate that those that lived during those times were simply ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

​

A large, white model of the Maritime Museum will be constructed, measuring around 3 metres long, as a scale replica of the museum and sited in the crypt of the church. The dark, intimate conditions in the crypt will allow visitors to revisit the installation and fully connect with  the soundtrack, featuring music from composers; Silver Maple, Hampus Naeselius,  Bonnie Grace, August Wilhelmsson, and Jakob Ahlbom, as well as narration from the  1940s. 

​

The installation lasts around 17 minutes and will be shown every 30 minutes, allowing  audiences to transit in and out of the crypt.

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

The Crypt, St. George's Church in 1940 (Ramsgate Historical Society)​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​​​​

​​

​

​

​A visualisation of the project installation

​

​

Howard Griffin is an Artist, and Creative Director of Illumiscape.

​

Biography and Examples of Past Work: Having taught visualisation and digital moving image in schools of architecture for over 25 years, Howard Griffin recently created Illumiscape, a company focused on realising his creative ideas about light and architecture. Since this time, he has already displayed his work with the projects Waterside Wonders at the Gravesham Light Festival, and Dynamo: The Spirit of Ramsgate, in Ramsgate, Kent. Before setting up Illumiscape, Howard taught at the University of Kent, directing the Masters course in Architectural Visualisation course since 2010. An aspect of this course explored the use of mixed reality in architecture,  focussing on the ‘actuality’ of projection mapping and the opportunities it provides to  augment architecture in a way that is unreachable with digital AR devices. 

​

After starting in projection mapping in 2011, Howard’s most recent work has focused on  bringing heritage to life, allowing audiences to connect with that ghosts of the past that  permeate the fabric of the buildings around us. Howard work begins with a question: ‘If these walls could talk, what stories would they tell?’ Connecting people to the history  of the site, enables residents and visitors to better understand and appreciate the places and spaces they stand in.

 

In 2022, Howard was part of a team delivering a project called Walking with Ghosts, shown at the Folkestone Harbour Station, in Kent, UK. Creating a 84-long projection of World War I soldiers walking along the platform, retracing their steps 100 years on from when they embarked for mainland Europe to war. This sobering installation attracted over 20,000 people to watch it, some staying  for hours to absorb the images and sound. 

 

In 2023, Electric Chatham  saw Howard explore  the use of projection mapping to highlight the  

neglected heritage of Chatham, UK. Using a former discount store as the architectural backdrop, the installation connected the audience with the origins of the building as the first purpose-built cinema in  

the town. The piece also included sections lamenting the demise and neglect of the  building, as well as exploring possible futures for the site. 

 

2025, following his creation of Illumiscape, Howard’s work continued with the heritage theme; first with Waterside Wonders, a piece illuminating the lives and stories of the fishing heritage of Gravesend and Dynamo: The Spirit of Ramsgate, re-telling  the stories of those involved with the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.