Describe what you intend to create for your final – list details such as materials/scale
I’m planning to create a “deteriorating” umbrella. The umbrella will be a non-collapsible umbrella with chicken wire fixed onto it instead of the usual fabric that covers it. Flowers will be fastened through the holes of the chicken wire to create the dome. It will be life-scale, which means anyone can hold it and take shelter underneath it. The last “material” I will be incorporating will be rain. A video of the final piece will be produced for December 21st.
Rough sketch of the project
Describe how you engage with SHIFT in this project
The umbrella employs shift through its interaction with the rain. It is commonly seen as an object that protects one from the rain. When water seeps through the umbrella, it transforms into an object that is penetrable and fragile. Also, instead of repelling rain, the flowers transform the object into an item that accepts it and sustains life through it.
Discuss SHIFT in terms of ideas/concepts and method/materials
The concept behind this deteriorating umbrella is its shift from something that is mechanically built to be durable to something that is organic and short-lived, and from the repelled to the accepted. Umbrellas, like most modern-made objects, are created as a necessity in day to day life as a form of protection. Its function is to repel water from the user and provide shelter. On the other hand, flowers are deteriorating organism that move away from the synthetic, and it lives off of nourishment from water, like rain. By standing in the rain, the umbrella becomes susceptible to the environment after it comes into contact with rain. A minor shift I will be incorporating is the shift from the physical to the digital through filming the piece instead of showing it to the class. In this way, I will be immortalizing the piece and reinforcing the idea of something durable that has become short-lived.
How will you use your medium of choice to actively support and reflect your ideas?
I wanted to create a piece that is interactive and incorporates something that pertains to my daily life. Since coming here, the umbrella has become a necessity due to the inconstant weather conditions. By performing the piece in rainy conditions, it will support my idea of shifting from the durable to the short-lived, and the repelled to the accepted.
Timeline
Dec 7 – Complete Project Proposal and obtain umbrella skeleton
Dec 8 – Obtain chicken wire
Dec 12 – Purchase flowers
Dec 13 – Weave flowers through the chicken wire
Dec 14 – Present project by using the umbrella outside + filming video
Dec 15 through 20 – Editing/Finalising video
Dec 21 – Present video of umbrella
