London Museum

A hands-on digital interactive letting visitors explore mudlarking finds through the eyes of Mark Sowden.

A photograph of an interactive turntable at the Secrets of the Thames exhibition and London Museum. A turntable sits in front of a screen. On top of the turntable is a potter sherd. A handle is in front of the turntable. When visitors turn the handle the image in the screen responds by animating the sherd spinning, using a long exporure effect to show the pottery sherd as a complete rotation and revealing its form
The interactive turntable at the London Museum

Using long exposure photography and a turntable, mudlark Mark Sowden reconstructs how a pottery sherd might have looked as a complete object. We created an interactive installation to help visitors understand how Mark interprets his finds. By turning the handle visitors rotate the turntable which in turn animates the image on screen revealing the full plate as it once may have looked.

A photo of 3 long exposure photographs taken by Mark Sowden mounted on the gallery wall. Below the photographs are a selection pottery artefacts.
Mark Sowden's long exposure photography on display at the London Museum

We proposed an interactive experience that recreates Mark’s process in a museum context, allowing visitors to experience firsthand how a mudlark thinks. Early prototypes explored different ways of using hand cranks to let visitors turn a sherd on a turntable.

The final experience combines custom code, a small-form computer, an aluminium frame, 3D-printed parts, and several sensors and motors (fabricated by Tom Cecil), all working together behind the scenes to create a simple and intuitive experience for the visitor.

A photo of Tom Cecil assembling the internal workings of the interactive turntable. A close up of two hands plugging cables into electronic and mechanical components.

Special thanks to Mark Sowden who’s amazing long exposure photography inspired this project. Mark was incredibly generous with his time and supportive of the project through every stage of it’s development. This is Mark at the exhibition playing with the final experience.

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