Sweet and Savoury is an interactive installation that uses foley to create a surreal experience for the participants. The installation demonstrates how sounds can be associated to more than one object, and when combined to create specific settings, can create a totally different atmosphere and story that plays with the participant’s imagination.
Videos:
{Aftermath}
Here’s some mid-sem project documentation for The Study Room. Overall, I’m glad that both the audience and the participants had fun. The flow was just about how I imagined it to be; the participant on the foley side makes the proper sound effects, while the other participant makes (almost) all the associations to the actual objects.
The main issue would be that it was hard to hear some of the softer sounds, especially since there were louder sounds coming from other parts of the room. Other than that, I’m glad the instructions were clear enough on the foley side, specially since other sounds can be made that might be harder to associate them to the objects.
Study room setup
Foley Setup
Instructions
Foley keyboard
Foley notebook
Foley keys
Presenting the (willing) participants, Fizah and Bryan. [Thanks, guys. Very cool B)]
In the first video, we can see Fizah having to lean in a little to hear the sounds better. In the second project, I think I can add speakers to amplify the sounds. Watching the second part where they switched sections showed that sense of discovery for the both of them. It was mentioned that hearing the sounds somewhat entices them to do the action, so that;s what happened in the second video.
Flow of events:
Intended outcome:
Flow of events:
Intended outcome:
[Two tables, representing the rooms, placed in a reflected position.]
Study room #1
A table with various materials that create the same sound as items that can be found on a study desk.
Participants can:
Intended result:
A table with the actual objects we find on a study table, each item corresponding with the items from room #1.
Participants can:
Intended result:
This is a long read, but the writing style was pleasantly personal and slightly humors, which I really appreciate. It kept me interested despite my short attention span when it comes to absorbing information from huge chunks of text.
The reading describes the different aspects of a space or building that change its atmosphere. It states that a quality architecture is something that can move people. To move people, they have to be able to feel something within a space, an atmosphere. The atmosphere can be altered simply by changing any aspect of it, creating various types of vibes that you can feel when you enter a certain space. The initial atmosphere of a space determines if you would even consider entering it or not. Every element contributes to the overall atmosphere of a space; objects, people, materials, sounds, temperature, light. Even the positioning and proportion of objects and structures are factored in. By controlling these, a building or space can either blend in with its surroundings or stand out.
Like the anatomy of a body, the space has different components that forms it and makes it whole; one difference in material can change its looks and atmosphere completely. Compatibility of materials also matters, it results from seeing how different materials react with one another. Do they clash or compliment one another? The same material alone can be treated differently, each variation giving a different feel. Peter Zumthor talked about how he couldn’t use soft cedar in a space made of concrete because didn’t look balanced. He needed to replace it with something like ebony; something darker, dense enough to counter the weight of the concrete. But then things didn’t work out as planned, materials kept changing until the look and feel were just right. To me, this just shows that there is really no sure way to know unless it’s been tested. And even then, the atmosphere can change as time passes, or if new elements are introduced in the surroundings.
The part about sound was probably the most interesting part for me in this reading. Zumthor explained how sound within a space could come from the materials, as well as from echoes and amplifications. Some of these sounds may sound familiar to us. A sound that makes us feel nostalgic, bringing up memories that we now associate with the space. He goes on to task us with taking sound away from a space. His question: is there still sound? I guess not? But I guess the only way I would describe something as loud or soft in a silent room would be depending on the sounds and volumes that I relate to color. For example, the sound of blue would be soft and melodic, whereas red would be loud or sinister. Combined with the types of materials and their textures, I suppose I can imagine their sounds through what I expect them to feel like; rough textures creating grainy noises, and smooth textures creating soft ones. I can see how all these can alter the atmosphere of a space, especially when we relate them to our own past experiences.
Temperature in space can also affect the overall atmosphere of a space, and I honestly never really thought about how a building can extract warmth from us without direct contact. Even surrounding objects like props, decorations, plain clutter, or anything that we have a deep connection with, can trigger a sense of comfort or discomfort within a space, depending on our experiences.
Overall, I understand that the elements that make up a space contribute greatly in making it appealing and inviting, or off-putting and repulsive. Every aspect plays a part, and although the atmosphere may seem pleasant to some, others may not feel the same due to relating differently to the same elements.
When I think of cyborgs, an image of a person with a mechanical limb or two, something way into the future where we have advanced technology. However, I never though of us as cyborgs with the tech we have now. The cyborgs I imagine have super abilities, like keen hearing or sight. But then again, the tech we have now allows us to do just that. It allows us to sense so much more, and the information it feeds us can alter the way we perceive the world around us. It can make you feel things that are not there.
In the reading, it mentions and talks about Opera for a Small Room, an installation created by the artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, who use tech to immerse their audience in the mechanical theatrics that tells a story of a man called R. Dennehy. However, the technology used serve to deceive the audience; it manipulates their senses into seeing things, to fill in gaps where they think should be filled. This gap would be Dennehy himself, who is not on set, but is perceived to be through recordings of his voice and shadows that mimic his silhouette. His narrations and every other prop meticulously put together on set each played a huge role in manipulating the audience’s experience. It was to an extent that they themselves feel as though the memories of Dennehy were their own. They were able to capture the presence of a body without one physically present in the room.
This power that technology holds in manipulating our senses, it is not exclusive to electronic devices. Something as simple as a book can do the same. As a speaker plays sounds that can cause us to imagine things, so can text of a story in a book; it is all up to how we process the information given. The text from the reading that described Opera for a Small Room was enough to make me imagine hearing and picturing the installation, so much so that I just had to do some research and look it up to see if what I imagined was correct (I found a video documentation and it was amazing and better than I expected).
Overall, I do agree that technology can have great control over our perceptions over what is actually happening in reality. And yes, it can be dangerous, but there is so much more it has to offer that makes it worth the risk exploring.
“Follow the right wall”
A simple enough task, right? If we wanted to, we could just run alongside the walls from start to end, no problem. However, when I entered the pitch black space that is Dialogue in the Dark, I realised it wasn’t as easy as it seemed, not when you’re visually impaired.
Having my eyes opened or closed made no difference in the dark, and even though the guide told us that there were no steps or curbs, I was cautious the entire way, paranoid that I would trip over something if I walked to fast. Heck, I couldn’t even walk at a normal pace. Some say that losing one sense heightens the others. From this experience, I would say it’s more of how we are forced to take notice and rely heavily on our our sense to get from one place to another, since we don’t have visuals. Throughout the visit, I used my sense of touch and hearing most (my nose was little to no help in identifying the spices on display in the supermarket section). As much as it was worrisome to accidentally collide into someone/something, I was fascinated whenever I was able to identify and objects/surfaces just by feeling their textures.
From this experience, I feel that role play allowed me to put myself in a visually-impaired’s shoes; to experience everyday life as they do through touch, sound, and smell (and I guess taste too, but like, more on those other three). It also reminded me that visuals aren’t everything, that there are many other elements that we can play around with in design.
Overall, I feel that role play allows us to empathise more with the audience we wish to cater to / work with. Be it person who is pregnant, wheelchair bound, or has a prosthetic limb, everyone experiences the world in a different way. As such, design shouldn’t have a one-size-fits-all template. As such, role play helps us find out exactly what elements work best in different situations.
Human-machine interactivity has expanded considerably over the years, and enriching these experiences is one of Golan Levin’s goals when creating an interactive artwork. Quite a handful of his interactive pieces use projections and tracking as a form of control; a way to “get away from the mouse and use out full bodies as a way of exploring aesthetic experiences” as he puts it. And out of all these projection based interactive artworks, I feel that Messa di Voce best incorporated the various interactive elements.
“The mouse is probably the smallest straw you can try to suck all of human expression through” – Joy Mountford
In addition to focusing on the aesthetic experiences, Golan wishes to empower people through interactivity and “discover themselves as creative actors”, which, without a doubt, reflects in the performance shown below.
As they “speak” [enter performer’s flawless impression of raging Donald Duck here], little spheres are projected onto the scene, seemingly emerging from the performer’s mouth and floating upwards like bubbles. In a way, I guess they could be called speech bubbles. More than that, the bubbles also change in size depending on the vocalisation of each sound.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. The bubbles eventually fall to the ground and the performers are able to push and kick them around, an interaction that made it seem as though both the virtual and physical spaces were the same place.
The performance goes on to show the various ways sound can be used in the interactive artwork; from creating ripples,
to drawing with lines,
to what it would probably look like if your soul was being sucked out by a dementor,
and even creating this weird spiky aura thing.
