Team Members: Vanessa and Sammi

The last project of 4DII is finally done! With this, the semester is over and so is my first year in ADM! This project was definitely interesting and my favourite project for 4DII this semester. Here’s a link to our previous post, if you want to find out more about our thinking process.

Now on to the photos we took during presentation day! (The photos might be a little dark due to the gloomy weather that day)

 

We placed our installation along the aisle of books right in front of the study tables. We chose this aisle of books for three reasons:

  1. We chose an aisle because we wanted the participant to physically pick up the books from the shelves, where the books were originally placed, since our narration is about how the book lays forgotten on the shelf and we didn’t want to move the books away from the aisle
  2. It had books with a lot of pictures and we found books with pictures that matched what we wanted to portray
  3. It was directly in front of the study tables so that the participant would be able to look at the students studying there when they are asked to look around them at the final stage of the installation

Our write up was placed on the shelf beside the aisle, which Michael said might have been too inconspicuous and people might not notice it.

 

This is what you’ll see when entering the aisle

 

Here are our classmates trying out our installation!

 

In case you didn’t get to experience the installation for yourself, here are the close ups of the books and the accompanying audio files!

 

1. The Beginning

“I used to stand strong and tall,

until they chopped me down,

and my branches started to fall.”

This talks about the first step. The character was a tall tree, but was cut down in order to make paper, for the pages of a book.

 

2. Transition

“I thought I was trapped.

A journey leading to death.

Little did I know,

there was potential untapped.”

The character then goes through a transition, losing hope at first, expecting death. Yet, he slowly discovers a new direction and purpose.

 

3. A New Life

“I became part of a book;

a new hope, new life.

Eager for someone to take a look.”

This is where he understands his new purpose and is enthusiastic in embarking on this new journey. He is filled with hope and is reborn, as a book.

 

4. Neglected

“Crowds came in, crowds walked by,

and slowly, I was cast aside.

Time passed as I turned old,

craving for someone to hold.”

As time passed, nobody comes to hold him. They simply walk by to the study tables, to do their work on their laptops, leaving him feeling neglected.

 

5. Obsolete

As the book lays on the shelf, untouched, he starts to feel obsolete and forgotten, leaving behind an empty void in his heart.

We also placed our concluding statement beside the last book to get the participant to start reflecting.

Here’s what it says:

 

Reflections:

This was my favourite project to do in 4DII. I definitely learnt how to manage my time and pace myself, from coming up with an idea, to doing our proposal then submitting it, to finalising our idea and creating it. It was challenging and there were a lot of changes made. For example, we initially wanted to put an electronic device together with the books so that the participant could listen to the audio track. Realising that it was not practical, we ended up using a QR code and a link so that the participant could easily access the audio tracks. This also allowed more people to participate at once. We also had to think through all the tiny details that seem unimportant at first, but could make a big difference to the effectiveness of the installation. It is also important to get a friend to experience the installation as they would be able to spot problems that we might not have noticed before.

From this project, I not only learnt how to accommodate our installation to be site-specific, I also learnt the practical side of creating an installation. All in all, a very exciting project and I wouldn’t mind doing it again!