Tag Archives: time
Suspend your Disbelief 2.0 | Final Project | Documentation
Concept
Suspend your Disbelief II is a development of my analogue midterm project. It incorporates sound and light to create an immersive and trance-like audiovisual environment. By introducing strobe light effect and a jarring soundscape, the work is an intervention of a typically peaceful and relaxing play environment. It also aims to distort movement and our perception of time and progress.
Process
Some alterations were needed to customise the swings for the new space (Truss room). I chopped the longest swing into two pieces and made additional reinforcements to the centre. I also shortened the length of the sticks for a sleeker look and to allow for more movement.
The soundscape consisted of a low-frequency drone in the background and 10 randomised accents. These accents were either
created or edited using Ableton Live. I adjusted each accent to make it sound as jarring and ‘noisy’ as possible while remaining unified as a soundscape. Each accent or delay also had a unique light pattern which emphasised its sound.
Some accents had a gradual circular panning effect or sudden jumps between corners but that was not included in the end due to technical difficulties in the space. Multichannel panning would have enhanced the effect of movement and confusion in the space, however, overall I think the result was alright without it. Oh well! 🙂
Video Documentation
Interestingly, when pairs of friends experienced the space together, they often wanted to hold hands and swing in unison. Their response was unexpected, but nonetheless very endearing.
Project idea: Month
A month is a period of time that we share universally. What happens in a month? How much of the past months can we recall? When we recall a month that has passed, what comes to mind?
Perhaps it’s characterised by events; public holidays, birthdays, one-time occasions (i.e. marriages, celebrations, funerals, world events, injuries, natural disasters). I feel that a month really flies by and the days blend together and become indistinguishable.
This project will invite users to document the most significant thing that happens each day. Users would record a single piece of media in any form (images, music/sounds, words, article/headline, website link). The system will record the submission each day but will not show posts from other days of the month. Users will only be able to view these daily submissions at the end of the month, as an entire month and collated experience. The arrangement of the daily posts will also correspond to the layout of a calendar.
Anonymity
The posts would be anonymous, with no identity, descriptions or captions. Unlike social media, perhaps not having an audience which knows us personally and only viewing the happenings of a single day would reduce the level of curation; i.e. reduce our urge to document our month according to certain cohesive themes/colours/forms etc. or document only the ‘nice sexy moments’.
Scale
Ideally, the project will have users from all over the world. The database would store the ‘months’ of users around the world. People can access these ‘months’, and have a glimpse into the lives of others. These experiences may vary from the intimate and personal to a collective experience. For example, on 23 Jan 2016, posts from Singapore may include a sound clip of a birthday celebration, failing a school assignment or a picture of a large tree. On the other hand, many people in the US may post pictures of the blizzard which hit the east coast, showing snow covered cars and streets. The significant-happening-of-the-day can be something that shook you personally, or an event that shook the larger global community.
On a side note, experiences and happenings seem to dictate the tone of the month. Hmm… I wonder if other more subtle aspects can be recorded, like feelings and moods.