DESIGN NAME: Life
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Lighting Installation
INSPIRATION: The display scenario is to create a field to attract people no matter the light is on or off. The inspiration of hardware came from 3C devices as a social media. I want to create a design not only use LED, but also use the one powered by USB-featured wire, hub, or plug, with individual on/off switch. A user can also use this peripheral while communicating with people next to the design.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This design creates an image of life from the interior boundary of a space that we belong to. The space is made of transparent and reflective building components. The activities occur around the components is similar to going through a series of inter-reflections. People traverse around box exteriors would discover different oriented reflectivity of life, through different levels of transparency of reality.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: This installation is intended to be placed on a flat surface, either next to a wall or standing alone. A wall will take the light and shadow. A standing alone setup would take the background activity or fixture as source of reflections. Light can be on even on the daytime. Either sitting on tabletop or on floor is acceptable. Although the USB setting is not waterproof, put it under sunshine to enjoy the void space mixed with background scene is also interesting.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: This project started from scratch since 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan. However, the replaced parts of an obsolete RP machine were on my shelf in front of me for over 10 years. I have been practice with it in my mind for a long time.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Fine Arts and Art Installation Design
|
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The design started form a much smaller setup before gradually expanding its size and complexity to current scale. Almost all the components are genetic geometric forms. The entire composition has gone through a number of tests with arrangements to illustrate the space fluidity. The core comes from recycled acrylic cubes of an obsolete rapid-prototyping machine. Inside the cubes are tiny pipes which used to deliver color inks. The cubes or pipes symbolize the mechanical system that supports a space. The depth of space is enhanced after the light is on. All the components create a dramatic lighting system, just like how a house looks, featuring differently when light is on.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: 45cm*45cm*30cm
TAGS: lighting installation, transparency, reflection, void space, building metaphor
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: This design has two parts of visual elements: reflection, transparency. I wanted the former came with more meaningful metaphor. An old saying occurred to me: Life is a mirror to reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it (by Ernest Holmes). It incorporated with the metaphor of building or life perfectly. In case the reflection doesn not received by a thinker or an audience, the transparency turned out to be the opposite concept, just like the image using cloudy sky as background, gave the same design a totally different look.
CHALLENGE: Design a building is a challenge. It is even harder to design a space using the metaphor of a building. The metaphor behind the building metaphor is a common term, life. I would like to have the philosophical point of view matches the metaphor of surface reflection.
Another challenge is to incorporate two types of order: the objects, the reflections. This is difficult because all the objects are presented in different level of transparency, which almost eliminate the visualization of reflections when internal light is off while environment light is on. Even when internal light is on, the objects should be allocated to maximize the effect of reflection inside the box. So in addition to the orthogonal manner of layout, I rotated Z axis with X axis 45 degrees by using triangular block plusing rectangular block to create another axis of reflection. The extruded block is used as an indication of the rotation. The result is a series of paired reflection, or refraction, faces interlaced together.
ADDED DATE: 2016-08-08 07:36:21
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: all by myself, Naai-Jung Shih
|