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KEANmag
Assistant Professor Ed Johnston, in the Michael Graves College of
Design & Architecture at Kean University, extends the boundaries
of his thinking and imagination every day with passion, enthusiasm,
and a tireless sense of curiosity. Visualizing the unseen has been the
motivation for most of the things he does. As a multimedia designer,
artist, and educator working in a variety of contexts involving
interactive design and three-dimensional digital technologies,
Johnston searches for meaning every step of the way.
“I’m intrigued by things I can’t see. We’re all searching for meaning. I’m
always asking myself, ‘what kind of meaning am I willing to create and
where do I fit into society?’” said Johnston who has been teaching at
Kean since 2011.
To that end, Johnston brings the education of his students outside the
walls of the classroom. At Kean’s Liberty Hall Museum, a place whose
history dates back to 1772, Johnston is collaborating with a group
of student researchers to preserve the unseen through his “Room
of Echoes” project. The project captures the evolvement of history
over the last four centuries, by creating four versions of the same
room using interactive 3D media. The result will be a meaningful,
approachable, and useful way to view a piece of history, no matter
where the viewer is.
“As a designer, you have the opportunity to create impactful moments.
The different fields of design are uniquely positioned to facilitate that,”
said Johnston.
At Liberty Hall, Johnston is working to preserve the wedding of John
Jay, one of the Founding Fathers and the first chief justice of the United
States, to Sarah Livingston, the governor’s daughter.
The project, known as Liberty Hall 360, involves the reenactment
of this wedding, an important historical artifact, through the use
of 360-degree video. Expected to be complete in late spring, the
reenactment will be easily accessible online and on mobile devices.
With the use of Virtual Reality glasses, the viewer will be fully immersed
in the space and experience it as a guest in the wedding.
But before Liberty Hall 360, Johnston was creating a bridge between
history and the public in the small Jersey Shore town of Asbury Park.
A collaboration with Professors Mike Richison and Marina Vujnovic,
Augmented Asbury Park involves the digital reconstruction of key
historic landmarks on the Asbury Park boardwalk in augmented reality.
From the Morro Castle, a doomed passenger liner that caught fire off
the coast and beached itself in Asbury Park, to the famed Asbury Park
carousel, visitors to the boardwalk are treated to a 3-D history lesson
by using their cell phone and an “Augment” app.
Johnston continues to develop innovative ways to reach one person,
with the capacity to help many others. Throughout this ongoing quest
to provide meaning through design, Johnston has received numerous
awards and grants. His works have been exhibited nationally and
internationally, including the Lumen Prize Exhibition in Shanghai, Hong
Kong, and the United Kingdom, as well the Tank Space for Performing
and Visual Arts in Manhattan.
faculty profile
ED JOHNSTON:
FINDING MEANING ONE
DESIGN AT A TIME
