Assignment:
We were first paired up and asked to go anywhere in a 10 block radius with our partner, sit/stand there for 20 minutes, back to back, and analyze everything that we haven’t thought to analyze before. After that we had to sit/stand for 5 minutes, with our eyes closed and just listen intently to our surrounding. Lastly, we were asked to take pictures of everything we see. My partner and i decided to go to Washington Square Park as there are the most performances, and interesting things happen there. After doing so, our next assignment was to make a “something” that portrayed the area we visited, this could include either the visual context or the sounds we analyzed. My partner and i began brainstorming and we came to the conclusion that we should make something which did not just use the visual or sounds, but use both, and what would represent that better than a kaleidoscope. We thought that as the user would stare into the geometric shapes they would get lost into the world of color and be able to feel how hectic Washington Square Park actually is, however not just that but we also decided that the user would listen to some of the sound effects that we had recorded from Washington Square Park that evening at the same time as he or she is using the kaleidoscope. This would allow the user of our kaleidoscope to comfortably feel the same way we did when we were sitting in Washington Square Park, because they will be getting the exact same experience we did.
Process:
After Brainstorming our idea, which was mentioned above, my partner and i began making the prototype, we only had a couple of hours to create it, which we thought was more than enough time until we came to test the product. We watched youtube tutorials to know how to create the kaleidoscope and the tutorial told us to use foil on the inside so that it can reflect the confetti and beads when you look into the light. After creating it we had to test the prototype with another member of the class, so i asked Emily. However, as it turned out the kaleidoscope did not work as we had hoped because the foil did not reflect the confetti in the way we wished it would, and so we had 30 minutes left to go buy mirrors and be able to attach it, by then my partner and i were panicking, we ran out to Utrecht to buy the mirrors, however it turns out they don’t sell mirrors, so we settled for sheeted metal, and hoped it would reflect in the way we need it too. So we got back and completely changed the inside of our kaleidoscope, and thankfully the metal worked perfectly when you point the kaleidoscope straight into the light. We then printed out all the pictures we took from Washington Square Park and wrapped it around the whole kaleidoscope, therefore the”visual context” is surrounding the project, and the sound comes from my phone and the user would plug in ear phones, pick what they would like to listen to, then listen to it whilst looking into the kaleidoscope.
Pictures of the process:
Pictures of Washington Square park:
Some of these images were also used on the project, wrapped around the kaleidoscope.
This is an image of my partner and i testing our kaleidoscope:
The final outcome:
I think the kaleidoscope came out looking rather well, and thankfully, working rather well after the chaos my partner and i went through in the process. It is a great way of showing the users and other people in the public, exactly the experience they would be getting if they decided to visit Washington Square Park.
