Concept:
We’re interested in exploring the political nature of a space and instructing our participants to self-identify with political parties. In our political climate, there exist two dominating parties, Democrats and Republicans.
We set up an installation where strangers can choose to interact with our categories and/or choose whether or not to follow the path.
Focus Area: Washington Square Park
We’re interested in the political history of the space.
Observation:
- Before 9am: The homeless sleep in the park
- 9am: Students rushing to class
- 12pm: Lunch rush
- 2-4pm: Street performers
- After 4pm: After-work crowd and slowing down
*Dependant on weather
*We interviewed NYU students and frequent visitors of the park
Prototype 1:
We learned that our intentions needed to be clearer.
Prototype 2:
We learned that we needed to clarify our instructions.
We learned that our symbols need to be more colorful, and we need to restrict people’s choices.
Final Iteration:
Request for more videos.
Our Results:
- A lady spoke to us about our project and asked if she can walk down the middle
- A man posed with the donkey for a photo and pointed to it
- People took photos of our work
- A man told his children to “stand next to the elephant” for a photo
- Some people intentionally walked down the middle
- Children and dogs played with the traffic cone
- Fewer people chose paths than we expected, but people did pick sides
- People spoke about our work with each other
- Tourists had no idea what was going on!
- We almost got caught (?)
