Week17
Week 17¶
Application and implications
Questions for the MDEF Thesis project
What will it do?
Title: Sonic Ecologies¶
Exploring the Relation between sound, technology, nature and the physical world.
When was the last time that you played with mud? Why objects are designed to last forever?, why we have lost the connection with nature? What is the relationship with sound and our physical world?
These are some of the questions that will be explored with this intervention. Sonic Ecologies is a serie of specific designed interventions that will be happening in the city of Barcelona and its natural surroundings, Ending with MDEFEST trail road in the natural park.
The intervention is designed to work as a cycle, with human intervention opening and closing the loop, and Its divided in x stages.
Stage 1: Recollect the Clay from Collserola Park, or el Garraf. These two are natural parks in the surroundings of Barcelona that in some areas, have Clay soil that is used for crafts and fabrication. During the recollection of clay, the natural sounds of the place will be recorded to use them for the exposition.
Stage 2: The Clay will be installed in different metallic and conductive totems,these totems will be connected to an electronic system that will be throwing sound signals when the clay is touched, so it will be modeled in a collaborative way by people that will be participating in the expo. Its expected that the resulting shape will be abstract like sculptures.
Stage 3: For the final act, there will be a hike organized to Collserola park, where every participant will take a piece of the clay that was made by different people the day before. The pieces of clay will be seted up for a music performance that will be played there. After the performance, all of the clay pieces will be returned to the park as little sculptures, as nendo dango seeds, or as traces of human intervention. So with that approach the object will have its own natural cycle, where it was taken, used and returned where it belongs.
Concept¶
Project cycle¶
Concept¶
Project cycle¶
Who’s done what beforehand?¶
What will you design?¶
Apart from the whole system, there are some specific items that are necessary to design, to make the whole system to work.
For the second stage of the project, I will design some metallic totems, to install the clay to be conductive as well.
The circuit design and Arduino programming is crucial as well, to make the system work in a responsive way, it is better to design and test it before.
What materials and components will be used?¶
Materials and components: Clay from the park. 5 kg aprox Origin:Barcelona surroundings Cost: The time of going to pick the clay Made parts/Systems: None Processes: Recollecting and storing Questions: How the clay will be, its necessary to post process it?
Materials and components: -Metal stools/Tables x 6 Origin: Some waste wood from FabLab to make the bases, servei estació to buy the metallic tubes., Some metal workshop to buy metallic trays Cost: Tubes: arround 5 euros each Processes: Cuuting and soldering Questions: How this wil look like? like a free material expo? or a more minimalist one? Its necessary to test it before using it in its final shape.
Materials and components: -Headphones x 6 Origin: Akasha? Cost: none? Processes: none Questions: Its necesarry to have a local hub to connect all the cables, to split the sound from each one?
Materials and components: -Computer Origin: My own Cost: none Processes: Install it somewhere. Questions: How the presence of a computer doesn’t affects the outcome and the performance.
Materials and components: Arduino feather Origin: My own Cost: none Processes: Design the Arduino program to use touch pins with conductivity. Questions: How the conductivity will work with Clay, it’s necessary to calibrate it? it is possible to have it connected for three straight hours?
Materials and components: -Cables like 50 mts Origin: My own from previous projects Cost: none Processes: Cut, solder, connect, assembly Questions: There are clays better that others? maybe I should use better cables? Where they will be in the room?
How will it be evaluated? Indicators of advance.¶
The project is designed in three main stages, so in each stage the process has some evaluation points. For example, in the 1st stage, it will be a selection of this natural clay? that is something feasible to measure?
Then the most interacting stage will be full of measurable aspects. The amount of people that interacts with the clay, is one “indicator” of usability, also the performance and the interaction of the people with the artifacts, is super important.
Then the third stage is important to measure also, because it will have an impact in the message that is trying to give to people, and also in a long term if its degradates with the environment, of if maybe someone took it off.