Name of the piece: Interactive infinityScape
How your prototype evolved from the original idea to the current prototype: Once I realized that fans in a confined space were *not* happening (that realization took a long, bitter length of time to come to) I still wanted motion and shimmer. Dichroics hanging on strings provided both because the string was flimsy enough compared to the thread to create a chaotic, glittery effect. I need to figure out how to keep the wobbling going over an extended period of time.
Ideal visitor experience: I'm hoping that letting the users control lights on four of the 6 panes of mirror will provide an experience that's really variable depending on the angle and amount of light in the box. The danger is that all of the settings will look to similar. If they prove not to though, I'd like users to come up to the box and play with the lights and say "wow, how beautiful, what are those little pieces of shimmering glass...that can't be normal glass" and then read a small amount about dichroic glass, before promptly returning to just staring into the box. I loved what Shawn (sp?) said last week about how mesmerizing it is to watch complex systems that never resolve (he said it regarding rivers). The holy grail for me, at this point, would be to create an experience that really held people's attention for more than 40 seconds not for any particularly *didactic* purpose, but just because the effect is sort of entrancing and never fully resolves (again, to achieve that I definitely have to figure out perpetual wobbling, which is a big challenge).
Problems you encountered/next steps for this piece (adjustments, rebuild, new ideas, let go of…): Now that I'm using dichroics, I think that the angle and amount of light will have a much larger effect than it would have had on simple objects, and I think that allowing users to control that will be pretty powerful. I definitely don't want one big hole for light like I had in this version, because it mars too much of the mirrored surface. And, according to John, smaller, more directed lights will enhance the saturation of the dichroic reflections, so I'm moving in that direction. I might have to let go of the removable lid, and I definitely want to free myself of the desk lamp dependency in favor of LEDs.
I think you did a good job experimenting with different ideas within the space of an infinity box. I think especially when you have an original idea (inserting objects into the infinitybox) it is difficult to detach from that and brainstorm entirely new ideas, so I think the dichroics was a nice new take on it. I think having LEDs is a great idea and I'm curious to see the difference between LED vs lamp light.
ReplyDeleteAlso since Nish is doing his infinity light box for his final prototype, I'm very curious to see how yours and his differ in concept and interaction, and how perhaps they might engage the viewers differently, or similarly.