Shake, Hug or Wave?... or Nothing.

Developing on my preliminary research into social interaction by trying to physically interact with strangers through handshakes, hugs or high fives. I recorded myself at 4 different times in the day between 5-15 minutes, standing on one of the Golden Jubilee bridges offering passers by handshakes, hugs, high fives or even just a simple wave.


Shake, Hug or Wave? from amanda ford on Vimeo.

Results:

10.00 AM  (10 MINUTES)

• Number of people who walked passed = Men: 62 / Women: 41    Total: 103

• Handshake = Men: 7 / Women: 4       Total: 11
• High Five =  Men: 1 / Women: 0
• Hug = 0
• Wave = Men: 3 / Women: 4

12.00PM (10 MINUTES)

• Number of people who walked passed = Men: 171 / Women: 146    Total: 317
• Handshake = Men: 31 / Women: 20       Total: 51
• High Five =  Men: 1 / Women: 0
• Hug =  Men: 1 / Women: 1
• Wave = Men: 7 / Women: 2

4.30PM  (10 MINUTES) 

• Number of people who walked passed = Men: 127 / Women: 87    Total: 214
• Handshake = Men: 21 / Women: 6       Total: 27
• High Five =  Men: 2 / Women: 0
• Hug =  0
• Wave = Men: 9 / Women: 2

4.45PM (10 MINUTES)

• Number of people who walked passed = Men: 65 / Women: 79    Total: 144

• Handshake = Men: 6 / Women: 5       Total: 11
• High Five =  Men: 1 / Women: 0
• Hug =  Men: 0 / Women: 1
• Wave = Men: 6 / Women: 5

TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE: 778

This made my day. from amanda ford on Vimeo.
..and something a little unexpected made standing in the cold so much more worth it :)

Dance With Me?

Dance Series [clips] from amanda ford on Vimeo.

The samba band are regular buskers that play next to the Hungerford Bridge, and after several observations I found that people do stop to appreciate and listen to their music, but hardly ever get involved and start dancing even though in most cases it looks like they want to. I have noticed that especially in England people are generally very reluctant to interact with each other, whereas in Chile where I'm from it is socially acceptable to talk to or interact with strangers to a certain extent.
I wanted to see if I started dancing whether people would get involved and interact with me or still stick to their 'accepted' social behaviour.

Throughout the 45 minutes I spent dancing, 18 people came to dance with me. 12 men and 6 women.

I also wanted to see what the results were if; instead of me (a girl), a boy were dancing, how would the results differ. I conducted a preliminary test but in the short 10 minutes my friend Josh spent dancing no one was willing to dance, though further testing is needed.

Amstel Station, Amsterdam.

This is Amstel train station in Amsterdam, where Dutch designer Frank Tjepkema was commissioned to design furniture for the Central Hall that could initiate social interaction, but at the same time, provide opportunities for more private moments, creating a balance of privacy and openness.

"The playful composition of forms, based on a rigid (rather cubist) framework, was developed with a balance between privacy and openness in mind, inviting people to experience different levels of intimacy or interaction."

 Tjep 

Kissing Bench

The kissing bench, conceived from the idea of capturing the moment when two people meet, it encourages interaction between two individuals in a subtle and seductive way and perhaps will even lead to a kiss....

 

"Play me, I'm Yours"

In June 2010, British artist Luke Jerram presented his artwork "Play me, Im yours" in London and New York. It consisted of placing 21 pianos around central London for the public to interact and play with, he wanted it to be "a catalyst for strangers who regularly occupy the same space, to talk and connect with one another.. Disrupting people’s negotiation of their city, the pianos are also aimed to provoke people into engaging, activating and claiming ownership of their urban landscape."
The concept behind his artwork, of how he wanted people to interact with each other and their surroundings is what I want to achieve out of my project. The observation I made on the site through my research is that people seem so disconnected from their surroundings and so reluctant to participate in social interaction, but that hopefully artwork such as Luke Jerram's "Play me I'm Yours" and my final piece will provoke the public to interact and connect with their surroundings, and perhaps create a more relaxed and open society.

ACCESS by Marie Sester

"ACCESS is a public art installation that applies web, computer, sound and lighting technologies in which web users track individuals in public spaces with a unique robotic spotlight and acoustic beam system. The robotic spotlight automatically follows the tracked individuals while the acoustic beam projects audio that only they can hear. The tracked individuals do not know who is tracking them or why they are being tracked, nor are they aware of being the only persons among the public hearing the sound. The web users do not know that their actions trigger sound towards the target. In effect, both the tracker and the tracked are in a paradoxical communication loop. The ACCESS spotlight system travels from one undisclosed public space to another. The exact location of the public space is revealed only after ACCESS moves to its next location. The ACCESS website, which contains the webcam view and spotlight control, keeps an updated list of the locations visited as well as a video archive.

The content of ACCESS calls for awareness of the implications of surveillance, detection, celebrity, and their impact on society. The structure of ACCESS is intentionally ambiguous, revealing the obsession/fascination for control, visibility, and vigilance: scary or fun. ACCESS was primarily influenced by the beauty of the surveillance representations (x-rayed bodies, luggage or vehicles, 3D laser scans, satellite reconnaissance imagery, etc.), the invisibility of the collected data, and the power generated by means of surveillance practices."

http://www.accessproject.net/index.html

"Every Human Being Is An Artist"

"This most modern art discipline–Social Sculpture/Social Architecture–will only reach fruition when every living person becomes a creator, a sculptor, or architect of the social organism."

Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys documentary from cordltx on Vimeo.


Beuys wanted to awaken the populace, shake people out of their routines, the acceptable rigors one can pass through life with, unobservant of the disparities and conflicts all around. "...I not only want to stimulate people, I want to provoke them." 

Beuys strongly believed that art had the power to shape a better society and once stated that 'It was simply impossible for human beings to bring their creative intention into the world any other way than through action." This strength of conviction led Beuys to push the boundaries of established artforms to include human action and large-scale sculptural environments exploring universal social concerns. 
I can see the similarities in my thinking with that of Beuys's, In my project my aim is to stimulate and incorporate human action into my final design and I agree to some extent that art has the power to shape and challenge society and the established norms of human behaviour.