Week 6 Reflection: Future World @ ArtScience Museum

  • reflection on how and what you experienced, observed, and learned from the visit

It was my first ever trip to Future World @ ArtScience Museum. Normally, my attention span for museums and exhibitions are short but Future World managed to make me feel interested and interact with the exhibitions.

The first exhibit; when it was ongoing, all I could think of was trying to keep my mind still as it was slowly making me dizzy.

The second exhibit; although it has the feel of serenity, the sound of waves crashing, it became one of the spots for visitors to have Instagram-worthy photos — which could be an extra outcome of the exhibit too.

With the first two exhibits, I was reflecting back on the previous elective module I took, creating patterns to be made into interactive art at the Media Wall in NTU. It was pretty similar but this exhibit was more intense, with all the details… I was in awe.

Moving on, I was attracted to be a kid again over at the Sketch Town. My friends and I started to choose the things we want to do, and realised that we could scan our colourings to be up at the big screen, appreciating our artworks.

After admiring our artworks up on the screen, we got to know that we could scan our 2D artworks into 3D.

I liked how Sketch Town itself engages the visitors, especially children (and me) into the colouring and seeing their artworks up on the screen. To me, they have achieved the interactivity aspect of the exhibition.

Walking past the next few exhibits got me thinking of how my team and I could incorporate certain technologies into our iLight project. For example, the interchangable lights when user interact with the exhibit?

 

 

Response: Previous iLight exhibitions

I did not attend the previous years’ iLight but from what I can see on the website, there are several installations which I find interesting:

  1. MoonFlower by Yun, Singapore
Source of image: http://popwire.com.sg/buckle-up-for-a-visual-and-visceral-feast-at-i-light-marina-bay-2017/
Source: https://singaporemotherhood.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Moonflower.jpg?x17934

Based on my research, MoonFlower, by industrial designer Lee Yun Qin, was inspired by flowers (handmade by her mother). The modular flowers are powered by solar panel to create a luminescent display. What I find interesting was the option to make these flowers be “adoptable”.

I like how the flower petals are made using a mesh-like material to create a softer effect from the light, while it works like a lighting shade.

When I saw this exhibition on the web, it brought me back to the LED Rose Garden located at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul. It looks similar — the arrangement of the flowers and the scenic view from afar.

Source: http://68.media.tumblr.com/b848a3ddd9dad723ff81e3e388f686f0/tumblr_nfnhsepUkM1ru6u3bo1_1280.jpg

 

2. HYBYCOZO by Yelena Filipchuk & Serge Beaulieu

Another installation that caught my eye the first thing when I came across the iLight website was this particular piece.

Source: https://www.ilightmarinabay.sg/-/media/Images/iLight/Installations/15_Light%20Origami/Hybycozo%20Big.jpg

My eyes caught the shadows and the details on the floor and thought of constellations, before actually looking more detailed to the entire structure. The lighting they used for this installation brought out a beautiful scenery too. I also found out that the designers were influenced by intersection of science, technology, geometry, materials and the artists’ favourite books. What I find interesting was the intricacy of the details and getting to know that they were inspired by Islamic patterns, then incorporated into this installation.

Week 4 Response: You are what you carry by Jan Chipchase

In the previous chapter, Chipchase did a research on the 3 important items in one’s bag — key, money, and mobile phone. In this chapter, Chipchase then move towards the research and study of “carrying behaviour”.

I’d agree to some of the behavioural study he shared in this chapter:

1)

“On public transit in China and Brazil you’ll often see riders wearing backpacks on their chests (or “frontpacks”), a strong indicator of a short range of distribution, a high risk of theft, and an acute awareness of that risk and the need to react quickly if errant hands start unzipping a pocket.”

I think one would behave in such a way out of security. For myself, when I traveled for the first time to China, my backpack would normally be placed at the front for safety purposes — as stated, to react quickly if errant hands start unzipping a pocket. However, I’ve started to realise that wearing the backpack at the front became a habit when I traveled overseas like, not only in China but also in Korea.

2)

“… mobile technology has dramatically changed people’s behaviours outside the home, from carrying less to remembering less to owning less.”

With the rise of mobile technology, people relied on digital maps rather than physical maps mostly as a choice of convenience. However, how much would an application help when it suddenly does not work at the time where one desperately needs it?

For example, I was using Google maps in Korea to search for the route to a destination but it was not able to locate. Thus I had to resort to a hardcopy map that I brought as an alternative to find my way.

Thus I feel that one should rely on technology as much as we rely on a physical tool.

Response: The Anthropology of Mobile Phones

While the talk by Jan Chipchase was ongoing, I realised that I was agreeing to certain points he did in his research. For example, the 3 key important items people have in their bags/pockets.

I too, agree that these 3 items are the most important items amongst the other items I carry in my bag. Without these 3 items, not that I will feel like it’s the end of my life, but more to feeling uneasy the entire day.

In these scenarios:

  • Key – What if my family members are not home yet? How am I going to enter the house? What activities can be done while waiting for family members to be home?
  • Mobile phone – Because we’re so used to having mobile phones with us everyday, it would feel different? In a way it can affect one’s mood for the entire day. “What if there are important calls/messages? How will my daily commute be without mobile phone? I can’t listen to songs on my way to school.”
  • Money – For me, I would feel that having loose cash with me is equally important as having ATM card. I’d rely more on loose cash to easily keep track of the amount I spent and to avoid going to the ATM machine to withdraw.

The strategies Chipchase talked about also reflected in my daily life whenever I realised I don’t have these items with me:

  • the point of reflection – I’d tap my pockets to ensure that I have these items with me before I leave the house
  • the center of gravity – I’d find these items at certain areas of my house like bedroom, or dining table, as these are the places where I’d normally place them.