Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

"You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever--because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference." Steve Jobs


Embarking on a new journey in my life with quite a lot of uncertainty in the air, I took comfort in Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement speech to Stanford graduates, incredibly inspiring and thought provoking its given me a boost of confidence to find out what it is I am truly passionate about and go for it. 
People. If you have read through my blog you will see that I am fascinated about social interaction.
I love people and I love design. There's a start. So finding a way to merge talking/ meeting/ socializing with different people whilst being creative at the same time is where I'm headed.


Rest in peace Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011)

How People Relate To Objects And Space..

I'm interested in relationships and how people relate to each other but also how people relate to objects and their environments- context. 


Moving away from my initial idea of a kit/guide to interacting with strangers, I have decided to focus more on the relationship between objects and space in my interaction experiments.






Gordon Matta Clark


PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION SERIES:


The Task- setting up a situation to be creative with a stranger, with an end product so as to achieve a sense of accomplishment - creating a bond.


An interactive art installation using string and mirrors in a public space, that enlists the help of passers by and strangers to help set up and add their own individual creative input into the creation of the intervention.


Mirrors create the illusion of space, and by incorporating them into the design it subconsciously involves people to interact with the installation through inadvertent narcissism. By looking into the mirrors, passers by are interacting with and being apart of the installation if only for a brief moment. 


The use of string is to create a hammock/ 'web' structure, a temporary piece of furniture that uses existing structures on site as support, such as trees and lamp posts. That through its construction has evoked social interaction between strangers, and once completed raise peoples awareness of their surroundings and be used as a platform for people to rest on and connect with strangers.

Film Style

The style in which i wish to film is through using the split screen effect, an example I like is from The Rules of Attraction directed by Roger Avery.


http://youtu.be/E6EPa9Fw3Lk

The camera follows their separate journeys,

then in the end when they meet the two screens merge into one.

Pop Up

pop up furniture folds to carry..

Pop Up from abw on Vimeo.



Cardboard furniture:








Looking at situations, space and objects.


Creating a situation to make people aware of their surroundings by obstructing and diverting their usual route.
A pop up picnic in the city.. 

Book Design

                      

Julie Mehretu: Drawing Into Painting. French folded and perforated pages.

Sarah Bryant: Handmade Book

Jonathan Safran Foer: Tree of Codes

Atellier Bow-Wow: Architectural Prints

Atellier Bow-Wow Architectural Prints

Talking to Strangers

Experiment Test  : Talking to Strangers
Soho and Leicester Square


For this experiment  I targeted people who were sitting or standing on their own and initiated conversation. On average each conversation lasted around 3 mins.
An observation I made was that I didn't find any girls who were on their own. 


New York Steve : 2.41mins


Killing time before leaving for the airport back to new york.
We spoke about the lack of wifi in starbucks, he asked me for a cigarette. We talked about the price of cigarettes. We introduced ourselves. I spoke about Chile. He practiced some basic spanish "Hola me llamo steve, tengo 35 anos". He got suspicious. I had to meet a friend.


Jersey Boy Daniel : 2.24 mins


Worked as a singer in the Jersey Boys Production originally from Cardiff.
We spoke about the weather. Introduced ourselves. Where we were from, Chile being a bit more exotic than Wales. What I did in London. Jersey Boys.  I had to meet a friend.


Mysterious Canadian Teacher : 1:06 mins


Canadian Teacher in London for a week on business, definitely not a royalist.
Asked to sit down. Talked about the wedding, soho street party. His Job. London as a city to live in. Said goodbye.


Royal Wedding Rhys : 3.08 mins


Rhys from Cardiff, in London on holiday to visit friends. Going to the theatre that evening.
Asked to sit down. Resistance in communicating at first. Asked where he was from. Talked about the wedding, he had a lot to say. I had to meet a friend.


Film Guru Serif : 4.37 mins


Media Studies teacher Serif from London. Reading a book on the works of Francis Coppola
Sat down. He asked me how my day was. I asked him where he was from what he did. Enquired about the book he was reading. He went through and showed me images from Apocalypse now, it wasn't filmed in vietnam apparently. His friend Arrived, we said goodbye.


Ian McEwen fan Chris : 3.52 mins


Chris from London, waiting for his friend who was late going to the theatre. Likes to read.
Talked about people being late. Talked about how it wasn't shorts weather. Asked him what book he was reading, he wasn't enjoying it but was going to carry on anyway. Asked if ive read Ian McEwen's Solar. Said yes, i'm up to the point where he's accidentally killed his wifes lover and has managed to get away with it. He told me the ending disappointed him. I should read his other book. I had to meet a friend.

Sketchbook notes

                                      

Idea : Guide To Interacting With Strangers

I want to write a manual on how to interact with strangers.

The package/ kit with everything the user will need includes:

• Instruction Book/ Manual 
• A Detailed Map With Photographs
• Half Of A Device
• Oyster Card
• Disposable Camera 
• Timer
• A Game i.e Twister
• Business Cards

The idea is that the manual is completed simultaneously by 2 people who don't know each other .

In the manual i will give specific instructions to follow with detailed location and times, with each manual being slightly different so as to not overlap.

The manual will contain a set of experiments that the user will have to complete throughout the day. Examples of these experiments are:

• Setting up a game like twister in the city, and try and get people to join in.
• Starting conversations with people standing/ sitting alone
• When spotting someone eating a snack ask to have some. i.e Crisps
• On the tube ask a stranger for a headphone to listen to their music.

The last exercise in the manual involves the 2 users to meet and put together their half of their device to complete the task. The device is meaningless until both parts come together.

Device Ideas:

A see-saw

A seat for 2 people

Tent, poles - sheet

Picnic

Build a shelter

Foot Pump - Inflatable sofa.

Film/ Final Product

My idea is to follow and film both users carrying out the tasks on this journey over the course of a day. Then show both films simultaneously on a split screen whilst they are alone working through the manual then at the end when they meet it fits into one screen.

Moving Forward

change site?


a device?


OBSTRUCTION


DIVERSION


INTERACTION


AWARENESS

Trainers that make MUSIC while you DANCE.

+Shall We?

The basis of my idea is that I want to place an intervention on site that encourages strangers to DANCE, an experience that highlights peoples interactions with each other and the environment.

PIEZOELECTRICITY

Step by Step

This Idea uses the piezoelectric technology in the shape of footprints that map out different styles of dance; for example the Waltz,  Foxtrot etc, by using a numbering and arrow system to direct you to the next step. The piece is activated when two people step on the set of footprints, generating enough electricity to power the LED lights and appropriate music for that specific dance.

Group Dance

This idea incorporates the same piezoelectric technology, however by making the surface area bigger it allows more than 2 people to get involved at the same time, also the more people dancing on the surface the more energy is created, therefore becoming a sustainable way to power nearby lamp posts as well as the LED lights and music.

Interactive Floor Projection

More Evidencing.. from mrycan on Vimeo.


C. Mendoza: Push/Pull (2005) (With Geon Dong Kim) from Cristobal Mendoza on Vimeo.


I am also looking at and interested in United Visual Artists who practice in permanent architectural installation, live performance and responsive installation.
Such as Contact: "Contact is a responsive floor based installation which allows visitors to use their kinetic energy to generate audiovisual forms that will interact with the user, and communicate with each other.
http://www.uva.co.uk/archives/74

Building an interactive floor.

Using a multi-touch application, such as tbeta (CCV) and configuring it to track people (blobs) coming into contact with the projection.

http://wiki.nuigroup.com/Getting_Started_with_tbeta

Scratch Film

Experimenting with 16mm clear film leader, created using inks.

Dance in Chile

In Chile, dance is an integral part of the country's culture. The national dance is the Cueca, it's performed throughout the year and during the national holidays in September. Another very popular dance style is Cumbia; it's music is played in clubs, on street corners and is constantly on the radio. Dance is so socially accepted that it can happen anywhere, at anytime and with anyone.




Dance has also been very prominent in my family especially, as part of our tradition we travel to a small village in the Atacama Desert; which was once inhabited by my ancestors (Atacama indians), for 4 days to celebrate the Virgen del Carmen on the 16th of July. The celebration not only involves Catholic rituals but also incorporates the Atacameñan culture through dance and music. The video is a compilation of some of the dance groups from the region that join us in this celebration.