Final Project Concepts | Bryan C
1. The Octopus
Use Grasshopper to build tentacles out of corporate logos — one tentacle per major industry. Scale each tentacle to the size of that industry’s annual lobbying spending in Washington, DC. Then wrap them around a model of the capitol or something.
2. The Birth of the Buddha
Model and fabricate special flowers that will float on water (like lotus flowers). Put messages in them, drop them in the Hudson and see where they float? They could be all plastic, or maybe plastic bases with folded paper leaves and petals.
3. Verizon Thing
Still interested in this project I originally proposed for digital floss: 3D print a bunch of fake modems as demonstrate them courtesy of Verizon to highlight their failure to actually deliver FIOS to New York City.
Hi Bryan!
Octopus – I really like this one a lot – its my favorite! You seem to be doing a lot of physical “data viz” projects (guns map, etc) and so I like that this is in the same vein. I think its cool that you often have a political angle to your work. I think this one sounds like the most feasible. One suggestion: you could also play with scale here which could be interesting as well as use some of the newer modalities we have learned like the metal shop.
Brith of Buddha – I think that it may be hard to “see where they float” unless you imbed some sensors to track their movements. The other issue here is that people don’t really interact with the river (it’s polluted), so there is low probability that anyone will receive the message. And if they do, how will you know they did? If there was a way of tracking and recording the message that would be cool. Question: is there a way to bring it to the streets where the people actually are? i.e. graffiti? 🙂
Verizon – I understand the impetus and I like it, but I think you could push the implementation a bit here. Could there be some kind of interaction with the viewer/user? It is unclear to me how you will communicate the message of “failure” if they are just 3D printed boxes. What if there was some kind of interface where a user entered in a url and each time they pressed a key they heard a dial-up modem sound and the browser never actually loaded a page… ? Is there something to illustrate your point more strongly then just the boxes? Concept good though!
I like all the ideas! Minor comments:
The suckers in tentacles might be interesting/weird/gross(?) to map to some parameter in the data visualization.
In Verizon thing, it’ll be great if they are hyperreal and maybe light up, talk to each other(?), something that juxtaposes with what is promised and what is delivered and that coming out strongly.
Hi Brian,
All three ideas sound solid. They reflect your sense of humor and taste to critic politics, social groups, and way we experience technology. I am leaning towards IDEA 2. The Birth of the Buddha. I think the space (Hudson river) is unique. I would hope the lotus flowers float and maybe you can test it in a sink first. Also, flowers are a great idea. I remember your work on OF with flowers, so it will a great add to your portfolio.
Best,
Grace