Tag Archives: ideas

The One With The Karst Exhibition

Continuing from my previous post on extending a case studies, here is more details of what I am going to propose. Read here for my previous post.

I have chosen to use Vladimir’s Karst documentary as my case study of choice and I am going to extend this film into an exhibition/installation. The motive of the exhibition is simple, to have the same experience of watching the full film by visiting the exhibition/installation. I feel this is the essence of my propose exhibition/installation because I want my visitor to leave the exhibition feeling like they know a little bit more about Karst and the art of construction. I find this documentary very unique because it explores the process and beauty of the Karst stone which is a very unlikely narrative in a film.

Furthermore, the full documentary length is about 1 hour and 12 minutes which is quite a long time for some people to sit down and watch. On top of that, is is not your typical blockbuster film and Vladimir’s Karst needed the audience to think and reflect as well. So with that being said, I don’t think there will be many general audience who is able to stomach Karst. However, I want the people to experience the film by going through the exhibition/installation. This is also part of the reason for this proposal as well. Now let’s take a look at what I would like to include in the exhibition/installation.

I would like to break the exhibition/installation into 3 parts.
1. The Process – Equipments/Processes
2. The Culture – Food/Celebration
3. The Art – Artworks/Artists/Influences

Firstly, the first section of the exhibition would start with The Process. In this section, I would like to highlight the process the masons take to complete the house. From setting up explosives to the final touches to the house, I would like to capture these events through the use of photographs, short videos and the physical equipments as well!

As you can see below, this is the machine used to mix the cement. This equipment would be good to include in the exhibition space as well to facilitate learning and knowledge.

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From setting up the foundation to the measuring of the walls. These important details are important, hence showing some graphics on the exhibition would be a good idea for learning more about construction.Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 8.52.06 am
This skill take a lot of practice in order to be perfect at it and I would like my visitor to experience doing this process themselves. I would propose to have a karst stone on the exhibition space and a chisel and a mallet, where visitors can learn from the experts on how to do this by hand. It will be a once in a lifetime experience!Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 8.59.27 am
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This pulley system is very interactive in a sense that it requires someone to be there to pull it back and forth. This can be used as a switch or control as part of the exhibition. For example, visitors can interact with this pulley system and whenever they move it back and forth, it will show a different photograph. Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 10.27.08 pm
This cutting machine cuts the rock into perfect squarish sizes. Having a video to show this would be good for learning as well. No physical machine is required as this machine can be very dangerous for the exhibition. Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 10.27.45 pm Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 10.28.07 pm
The final results of the rocks.Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 10.29.42 pm

This process of holding the tree branch as you can see below is still puzzled me actually. But I do know this, there seem to be some natural force that is interact with the branch. This is a very unique experience actually. I would propose this to be included in the installation/exhibition space as well so people could actually try this for themselves!Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 9.01.25 am

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Secondly, the culture of the people of Montenegro. The stonemasons family and their life is quite prominent in the film as the director wanted to highlight the lifestyle and culture of the Montenegro people. Below, you can see that their really enjoy cooking and this is evident in the two screenshots below. Even after the completion of the house, they organised a huge celebration with the lamb. I would like to highlight this in my exhibition, to include the food recipe as well as some food tasting. The culture is also very important and I would definitely highlight this in my exhibition / installation as well.

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Thirdly, the artworks. The key influence of Karst was Petar Lubarda where Vladimir dedicate this film to. Furthermore the colour treatment of the film is inspired by Petar Lubarda’s painting as Vladimir mention in an interview! Petar Lubarda was a painter and was considered one of the most important painter in the region of Montenegro. I feel that to include one of his painting in the Exhibiton/Installation would be ideal as it is also mention in the film as well. The architect visited the gallery where Petar Lubarda’s work is being exhibited and is amazed by his works. Visitors could also learn a little bit more of the artist and his artworks and how the artwork influence the film.

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To close this lengthy post, I would like to summaries my idea of proposing an exhibition/installation that will engage the visitors to learn about the essence of construction and Karst. Karst is a documentary following the life of a stonemason family and their work processes. This is a very interesting documentary and by highlighting certain key moments into the exhibition space, the message of the film can be further heightened I feel. With that being said, I would to end this post with a thought, would you rather watch a 1 hour documentary or go through a 15 minutes exhibition space?

The One With The Narrowing It Down

It’s now time for the Second Phase.

I am going to cut down to 2 projects.

  1. The Exercise (previously known as The Run)
  2. The Dome: Heaven & Hell Project.
  1. The Exercise will be education interactive installation that targets healthy living and promoting exercising in a very fun way. Inspired by Legible City by the artist Jeffrey Shaw, users are able to interactive physically with real sporting equipments. These sporting actions such as lifting up a dumbbell for example, will be capture by a camera which will then calculate the amount of energy the user have used in doing the action. By displaying the number of calories burned in real time, users are motivated to keep doing to achieve the target and to move on to the next level. Below is the network diagram on how this project will work.
    The ExerciseWBS

    The Exercise WBS

    The Exercise

    The Exercise Network Diagram

    2. The Dome: Heaven & Hell Project is an interactive installation that will allow user to experience the sensorial experience that is the experience of being in Heaven or Hell. The concept of heaven and hell is a very undefined hence this installation is an simulation of what it could be. Playing with lights, projection, smoke, fire, fan and sound, these different elements would be combined to simulate different experiences. Using different knowledge of the idea of heaven & hell, different elements could be turned on by sensors according to the visitor’s movement. Being in a dome would make this project an advantage compare to a room.

    The Dome WBS

    The Dome WBS

    The Dome Network Diagram

    The Dome Network Diagram

The One With The Justin Bieber I Mean Cubetractor

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Cubetractor looks like an interesting and addictive game! That is why I didn’t start playing!

Anyway, I have a couple of questions for Justin.

  1. Which is more important? Art & Design aspect or the Programming aspect? Or how much percentage of each makes up an 100%?
  2. How would you defend gaming in general when gaming has such a bad influence on people? For example, destroying their own television on a burst of anger. Killing people because they think real life is like playing Grand Theft Auto.
  3. There are so many games archetype right now. Cubetractor follows the concept of tower defence. So how to ensure that one creates a game that is really unique and keeping the players to keep on playing?

I see you later guys.

The One With The Assignment 2

The extension of a case studies is actually a good way to take someone else’s ideas and push it even further. I find it hard to find a good one because honestly, not all the case studies is that interesting actually. With that being said, right now I am going to use Vladimir’s documentary, Karst. The reason I chose this case studies as it is one of the projects that I can relate to and it is something that I would do.

As Karst is a documentary that revolves around an architect and a family of stonemasons as they build a house for a diplomat, I would extend the film into an exhibition. This is because I feel that the essence of the documentary is about how traditional craftsmanship is still being used and it is a dying trade. Hence, my proposal would be an exhibition that people can learn more about the stonemasons and their ability, on top of the film.

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If you look at the top view of the house that was erected, the layout is pretty interesting and I would like to use this same layout as the layout for this exhibition. Furthermore, it make perfect sense as visitors would get to know the house a little bit better in terms of its spatial design and space. In the exhibition, there will be a showcase of the machinery being used, more information about the stone and also the documentation process on how the house was being built.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

I know there are many exhibition/installation that is based on a tv show or a movie. For example, there is a Game of Thrones exhibition that is going on now somewhere which I have no idea but I see it pictures. These exhibitions usually tend to promote the film and also to invite people to interact with the objects or props that was being used in the films. There is also some interactive game/installation where people is able to participate.

Regards,
Kamarul

The One With The 10 Ideas

Let’s push myself to the limits. I am going to come up with 10 different projects for the first phase.

  1. The Perfect Modern Chair
    To design an everyday office chair which adjust according to different people’s back shape. A perfect ergonomics chair which consists of combining the idea of a bean bag and a office chair. In this project I would need a partner for this as we need to research on the ergonomics of a chair and also executing the design.
    This is a design innovation as combining the materials of bean bag which takes the shape of your body and applying it to an office chair, white collar workers will no longer have backaches while working.
    This project might take a long time as it will be a research intensive project I foresee.
  2. The iPhone Film Scanner
    Shooting photograph on a vintage SLR is very traditional and brings back nostalgic moments. It also teaches you the basic of photography as we would require to think before spamming the shutter button like we would do in a digital camera. After processing the films at a local shop, those people who wants to scan their images have trouble finding a good scanner and also have to bear the cost. This application on the smartphone would be able to do the scanning of negatives and convert it to a jpeg file.
    Definitely need 2 other partners to work on the engineering part and also the programming part as well.
    This application would be one of a kind in the market, a big market for film photography enthusiasts! This project would be a real challenge to make it into a reality and it could be very expensive to make.
  3. The Run
    The run is an interactive Virtual Reality game that promotes exercise with gaming. With different scenario being selected, gamers are transport to a city where they are require to run away from the enemy. This game would require many platforms such as the xbox and the VR application. This game would probably need a budget of $5000 for research and programming. I would need a team of 3 for this as it will require many different stages of processes.
    This game would promote real exercise and attract gaming addicts. A real innovation in making a virtual world into a physical space.
    It might be boring after a while, too stagnant.
  4. The Museum of Contemporary Art Tanjong Pagar (MCATP)
    The current Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is now being emptied after they moved out and relocate to the Woodlands Causeway Centre. The historical building could be renovated and turn into a contemporary space for art and design. This renovation will take about 4 years to complete and once completed, it will attract many art lovers into Singapore from the region. High budget for this one maybe around 20-30 million dollars. I would need a large team for this project.
    This project will be ground breaking and be an attraction for Singapore. Audience guaranteed.
    Could be expensive and could become a fad.
  5. The Sound of Light
    To come up with an audiovisual installation that explores the uses of solenoid and light. It will be a soundscape experience for people to experience the sound of machinery, based on data and statistics. A solo project by me that could cost about $500 to develop within a year. A possible FYP project. It will be in a grand scale where people will experience something very different. Even though a novelty project but it explores the boundaries and definition of art. It could be too experimental for some people and finding a location and space suitable could be a challenge.
  6. The Book Of Wires
    This is a project to publish a book about wires & cables. With beautiful visuals and concise information and instructions, everyone will have no problem identifying the different kind of wires & cables for different uses anymore! Think of a dictionary, of colourful wires & cables!
    I would need 2 more partners, to design the layout of the book and another one in charge of photographing the visuals. Budget possibly around $500 for a small amount of copies.
    This is a very useful and informative book for those who wants to learn about IT and Engineering as well! Plus its an artsy book!
    Challenges faced could expensive and time consuming as publishing a book is not an easy process.
  7. The Body
    The Body is an experimental short film that explores the activities inside of a human body that make us function on a daily basis. Using slow motion techniques and different props, different visuals will represent an activity a body does, for example Breathing. This film will explore the use of everyday items to recreate the science behind our anatomy.
    This project requires a team of 5 where each person would need to wear different hats such as cinematographer, cameraman, gaffer and other film related job. This would need a budget about 1 thousand as we need to get good props and cameras.
    This film will break the boundary of cinematography and open up a new genre of films, definitely will attract art students. This could be a novelty kind of project and people might not be able to understand the experimental aspect of this project.
  8. The Rest Of The World In Singapore
    This is a photo documentation project to find and photograph people of different nationality living in Singapore. In other words, to photograph at least 1 people from different countries whose living in Singapore. As Singapore opens up its door to expats and foreigners to come to Singapore, it is possible that at least one people from all the 196 countries is living in Singapore.
    This would be a solo project and budget of $500 would be sufficient to complete this project, mainly spending on transportation.
    This would be an impossible feat to do but if completed, it will definitely receive a lot of recognition.
    This project could be time consuming and might take longer than 1 year to complete.
  9. The Hive
    The Hive is the newest building to be added in NTU located at the South Spine. It’s architecture is very unique and what better way than to take advantage of the building by using projection mapping onto the facade. This projection mapping would project graphics and videos to tell the story of NTU and its history.
    I would need 2 more people to help with the content creation and of course the technical aspect of this project. This project would cost an estimation of $3000 as the bulk of the money would definitely spend on loaning at least 6 powerful projectors.
    This would be a sight not to be miss as this will be the first time a projection mapping is being done onto the Hive.
  10. The Dome: The Heaven/Hell Project
    Using the dome system, this project would combine all the interactive aspect that I have learnt in class and integrate it into the dome. By using sensors, motors and lights, this site specific dome would create an experience of Heaven or Hell. These 2 ideal places have been describe through history of times and it would be my turn to interpret the experience inside the dome.
    A solo project which could be a potential for FYP. Budget would cost about $400.
    This would be a crowd pleaser and many people would be eager to try out this experience themselves.
    Project could be expensive and integrating many systems into one could be a challenge.

These are 10 good projects actually that I have come up. Each of them is something that I would want to do honestly.

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Fun fact: When the school bought the new dome, I was one of the team that first erected the dome from scratch. We were taught by the people from Russia who came here just to teach us how to build them. It was a very long process during the workshop. Quite an experience actually!

The One With The Imperfect Pitch Part 2

Conceptualising ideas quickly usually has its drawback, they are quick, lazy and lack substance. But I am going to try one anyway.

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  1. To create an interactive sound scape installation that explores the issue of construction. This installation will made up of objects related to construction, that will produce abstract sound, based on data related to figures and numbers on the topic of construction.
    Gant Chart of the First Project

    Gant Chart of the First Project

  2.  To renovate and refurbish the old Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and turn it into a museum of contemporary art. Keeping the exterior and interior design intact, modern renovation will make this place one of the top art museum in the region.TheTrip1
  3. To produce, write and direct a short art film related to the issue of birth and death. This experimental art film will take place inside a human body. Working with resources from the school will only require us to spend money on props.

The application is not really user friendly i guess. I given up as it is really complicated to use this software to come up with a work task. I probably do it much faster on a piece of paper. But I can understand how hard for project managers to plan schedule for a project.

The One With The Pitching of Ideas

For the pitching of ideas, I have come up with two of them below.

armory

For a project with a partner, I would like to curate the world’s largest art fair ever. It will consists of one gallery from each country, yes from each country in the world, all 196 countries. This will be a clash of cultures, ideologies, art and many more! Way larger than Art Basel and all the other biennale combine.

analog-12

For a project with myself, I would like to come up with an outdoor interactive art installation exploring the issue of construction and progression. It will be a though provoking installation that will question the role of our nation builders.

The One With The Analog Project In Progress

I admit, it is hard to think of a concept and come up with ideas. No I lie, it is not hard to come up with ideas, the hard part is to actually stick with it.

Not trying to sound like a broken record, I am doing on the theme of Construction this whole semester for Interactive Spaces. I feel this direction will allow me to think creatively and also to limit ideas within a smaller frame. Does that make sense?

Below is a mind map that I have construct (pun intended) to allow me to see clearly where can I go with this. I would not have see things clearly if I hadn’t done this mind map actually. What’s interesting is that construction is not always about building things but it could also be tearing down things, like for example, demolishing an old building.

I have an idea of doing a sound installation so I did explore what kind of sound a construction would made and below are some of it which could be more of course. 

What if I could have a space that is able to allow people to experience a soundscape of a construction place. I think that could be cool. But taking inspiration from my previous post on Zul Mahmod’s work, I would like to construct a sound installation based on a data. Making sense of the first assignment where i used the yellow safety helmet, I would continue that series onto the next one. Here’s the one where Zul uses a solenoid motor to make a sound installation.

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So my idea is this; have a helmet in a orderly manner and have these solenoid motor on each one of them to represent the connection between the helmet and a metal, which is a symbolic for construction I feel. Below is the sketches that i made.

The installation would require a little bit of programming as I want the solenoid to hit on interval times according to the data that I wish to tell and one of them is, the number of life is taken in a construction site.

However, after consulting LPD, he say that, the idea would be perfect for the final assignment instead.

So right now, I am going to loan out the Zoom 6 and put underneath the helmet to amplify the echo the helmet made! Be right back.

The One With More Construction Ideas

Dear OSS, I am here again to share my latest ideas on the first installation that I am going to embark. I am excited as much as nervous to tell you the truth. There are so many great ideas out there but unfortunately, I have to restrict myself to think even harder as I have to consider these few things. Firstly, budget. This will be a self funded project but I remember Prof. LPD mention something about ‘a little bit of money for the class’. Budget will determine if I want to go big or I need to buy any specific materials to make the idea a reality. Secondly, availability. I am not sure how available are certain materials is, for example, a big block of steel. Or any materials for that matter, if I can’t get the right materials or equipments, then my idea is a far fetch one.

But anyway, as I have mentioned on previous posts, I have decided to go on the theme of construction this semester. So my ideas have more or less the theme of construction. For my first inspiration, here is a sound installation by the one and only Zul Mahmood, a local Singaporean. I believed he teaches Sound Art in ADM before back then. Here’s one of the works he showed in the Singapore Art Museum. The composition is based on the National Anthem, Majulah Singapore.

Here’s more photographs of the installation. I managed to see it the other day when I went there. It was quite amazing actually!

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Sound installation commissioned by Singapore Art Museum. The sound composition is based on the national anthem, Majulah Singapura. It consists of 52 solenoids, 12 electromagnets, 2 micro controllers, computer, copper pipes, bass and guitar strings and 12 speakers.

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Sound installation commissioned by Singapore Art Museum. The sound composition is based on the national anthem, Majulah Singapura. It consists of 52 solenoids, 12 electromagnets, 2 micro controllers, computer, copper pipes, bass and guitar strings and 12 speakers.

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Sound installation commissioned by Singapore Art Museum. The sound composition is based on the national anthem, Majulah Singapura. It consists of 52 solenoids, 12 electromagnets, 2 micro controllers, computer, copper pipes, bass and guitar strings and 12 speakers.

So how is this going to be included in my idea? Stay tune to the next post to find out!

The One With The Interactive Space Analog Idea

I started thinking about the analog interactive space installation as soon as the assignment was told to us during class. This was my first initial idea. Using Multi plug as the main object, I want to multiply them to lay out to form a pattern or a shape. Take a look at my sketchbook below for my reasoning and concept.

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Yeah, as you can see, it is very simple and I was inspired by William Forsythe’s work, especially the work titled Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time No. 2. It is very minimal, clean but at the same time, capture your attention.

NOWHERE AND EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME, NO.2

NOWHERE AND EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME, NO.2

NOWHERE AND EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME, NO.2

NOWHERE AND EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME, NO.2

I envision the multi plug to be in a very geometric patterns and visitors are able to interact with them by actually changing the patterns and making their own.

I also managed to read up on Gernot Bohme’s article titled ‘The art of the stage set as paradigm for an aesthetics of atmospheres’. Basically an article exploring the definition of Atmosphere and how it is important in a stage work and I find it is also relevant in interactive installation or any artwork for that matter.

As I read the article, I took down some points to make summarise the article in my own way. It is quite insightful as atmosphere is important to allow the visitors/audience to want to interact with the surroundings. 4

As my analog idea is still in the early stage, I feel there could be some development however, I really like how this idea feels so simple and strong, at least to me. The interaction to my work could be open and I want that for this idea. But we shall see. The professor has suggest that I add some element of electricity in it to make like a sound work. Googled Christina Kubisch and her work on the idea of an Electricity Walks is pretty interesting. I shall make another post on her works next.