[WGS] Research – Proposed Concept

“Progression: Past Meets Future”

Concept
A story about two entities, the Past and the Future, as the former transitions into the latter. Heritage is never about the past, it is about progressing into the future. Past Meets Future portrays the retracing of tradition for a sustainable future as we value the past as much as we value moving forward into the future, in line with Teater Ekamatra’s aims to “Preserve the past, celebrate the present, foster the future”.

Using a blend of traditional and modern musical elements, the background music helps to transport you back and forth between the two entities, inspiring future generations. The musical instruments include gamelan, angklung, seruling (traditional flute), gongs, sapeh (traditional lute), kompang, piano, strings, brass and percussion.

The projection mapping is a conscious and selective retrieval of the past for contemporary necessities, a constructed discourse that furnishes not only a linear continuity between the past, present and future, but more importantly, a collective consciousness, or an in-group affect. It is also an extension to Wisma Geylang Serai’s past Gala Laga event where a fusion of the traditional and contemporary was performed.

Image from: wgeylangserai/Instagram


Graphic
Making use of the triangular shapes of the ceiling at Wisma Geylang Serai, Malay motifs will be used such as batik designs for a subtle background and triangular floral motifs like Pucuk Rebung for additional visuals.

Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/89381933@N05/8140291024

Silhouettes will also be animated/filmed to portray a simplified graphic of the traditional Malay arts (such as Silat, Tarian Zapin, Dikir Barat, Gamelan etc).


Colour
Three main colours are used throughout the projection:

  • Brown (The Past): symbolises the traditional elements of the Malay culture and heritage
  • Turquoise (The Future): symbolises the future growth and dynamic Community
  • Yellow (A fusion of both): the most luminous of all colours, symbolises positivity, fresh and new possibilities
Image from: masagoszulkifli/Instagram

 

 

 

 

These colours are also in consistent with Wisma Geylang Serai’s logo as described in a Media Release dated 6th April 2018;

The full colour version of the identity is developed to demonstrate its potential. A 3-colour combination were chosen to show the vibrancy of Malay culture & heritage. Copper / bronze is used as the primary colour as copper / bronze material was traditionally used in everyday household items in a Malay house. The colour also symbolises Wisma Geylang Serai as the epicentre that house different activities promoting Malay arts & culture. Yellow is a royal colour that often associated with Sultans, adding a touch of royalty to the logo. Turquoise green is used to portray the plant serai / lemongrass that once was indigenous to the area as well as symbolises the dynamic and growth of the surrounding community.


Timestamp
The visuals and narrative displayed will be choreographed by this music by Jon Brooks which I had with Standard Music License from AudioJungle:


 

0:00 to 0:38
(Calm instruments – Brass, sapeh, seruling, guitar, percussion)

An introduction of the two entities, the Past (symbolised by a brown orb) and the Future (symbolised by a turquoise orb). It started off with the numbers “2018” in the middle section of the ceiling accompanied by subtle animations on the sides. Then the year will reverse to “1998”, presenting the Past in different shades of brown on the left section of the ceiling, then forward to “2038”, presenting the Present in shades of blue/green on the right section.

0:39 to 1:08
(Mainly traditional instruments – Angklung, kompang, seruling, saron)
Colours of the Past on the left ceiling will spread into the middle and the right to cover the whole ceiling and narrate stories/visuals of the past including silhouettes of tarian zapin, dikir barat, silat, gamelan instruments etc. and graphics of Malay motifs as transitions.

1:09 to 1:30
(Back to the calm instruments of seruling, angklung and sapeh)
Visuals of the Past will disperse into small orbs floating around as a trail of turquoise light dances around the ceiling.

1:31 to 2:01
(Mainly modern instruments – piano, brass, percussion, violin, strings)

Colours of the Future spreads itself, covering the whole ceiling while narrating stories of the future including silhouettes of hip hop with elements of silat, rapper wearing a tanjak, contemporary Malay dance, percussion etc.

2:02 to 3:00
(Mixture of both traditional and modern instruments)

Colours of Past and Future blend together and form a new colour, Yellow, which symbolises fresh and new possibilities of the Malay arts, heritage and culture. In line with the positive colour, visuals from the Past and Future mix with one another, leaving the interpretation open-ended for the future generations to continue the Malay heritage and culture.

 

Expected Timeline
Week 1 (by 16th Dec)

– Discussion of concept with Anam & Reynard
– Final storyboarding

Week 2 (by 23rd Dec)
– Skype call between the team and Kristy
– Tweaking of storyboard
– Animating first half of the loop

Week 3 (by 30th Dec)
– Animating second half of the loop
– Technical Testing
– Finalising loop

Week 4 (by 6th Jan)
– Demo

[Robotic & Kinetic Media] “Jellica” Final Prototype

Documentation Links
Prototype 1  |  Prototype 2 | Final Prototype

Final Jellica Prototype

Progress from Prototype 2
In the morning of my scheduled final laser-cutting, I received news that the machine was down. Thus, I booked another slot the next day and kept in touch with several people for updates regarding the machine. Even though there were some hiccups that happened when I was laser-cutting, I managed to get all the parts ready (after two hours of trial and error with the work-study).

Since I was using a 180 degree servo, only half of the linear mechanism was used. Hence, I had to apply some load onto the bar for it to move downwards and not get stuck at a diagonal angle.

I had also purposely created a smaller whole on the upper disc and a slightly larger hole on the lower disc so the wooden pole would stick to the upper disc better. 

Ample of space was given between the disc to slot in a thin wire which was used to hold all six arms together.

The Code
The Arduino code was pretty simple as well. Jellica will move at a slow pace by default but when the Ultrasonic Sensor is triggered, it moves faster. Since I wanted the LED lights to be active the whole time, I used two arduinos so the LED does not have to wait for the servos to finishing looping before lighting up.

Arduino 1 controlling servo
Arduino 2 controlling RGB LED lights

[Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Prototype 2

Documentation Links
Prototype 1  |  Prototype 2 | Final Prototype

Jellica – Prototype 2

Further Research
I took reference from Arthur Ganson’s 23 Scraps of Paper mechanism for my Jellica’s linear movement. Continue reading [Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Prototype 2

[Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Prototype 1

Documentation Links
Prototype 1  |  Prototype 2 | Final Prototype

Jellica – Prototype 1

Starting Point
Firstly, I had to study the basic mechanism of the jellyfish pulsating so I took reference from a normal umbrella and dismantled it one at a time. What I ended up in the end was a skeleton. Continue reading [Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Prototype 1

[Robotic & Kinetic Media] Thematic Presentation – “The Uncanny Valley”

Final Powerpoint Presentation : PPT Link Here

The Uncanny Valley

What is it?
The “Uncanny Valley” is a characteristic dip in emotional response that happens when we encounter an entity that is almost, but not quite, human. It was first hypothesised in 1970 by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori, who identified that as robots became more human-like, people would find them to be more acceptable and appealing than their mechanical counterparts. But this only held true to up a point.
Continue reading [Robotic & Kinetic Media] Thematic Presentation – “The Uncanny Valley”

[Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Proposal

Full Powerpoint Link HerePPT Link Here

JellicaJellica is a mechanical menagerie jellyfish. Since I have an interest in Museology and Heritage (in particularly the conservation and preservation area), I was inspired by the historic cabinets of curiosities and taxonomic collections of specimens preserved in alcohol in glass vials and bottles. I like how they have such an exotic and fragile feel. Continue reading [Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Proposal

[Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Research

Theme
Animatronics (Jellyfish)

2 Key Senses to Survive
Touch

The tentacles on a Jellyfish are covered with stinging cells (cnidocytes) that sting or kill other animals: most jellyfish use them to secure prey or as a defence mechanism.  Continue reading [Robotic & Kinetic Media] Final Project – Research