Date: April 25, 2019
Instructor: Marcela
The title of my project is “A Melody Interactive Installation”. My Project will be a sound installation, which integrates Chinese classic culture, modern technology, and space design. The aim of my project is to provide the audience who enjoy music and diverse culture immersive and unique experience. With the interaction with my project, the audience can create their own tone and understand the story of the Chinese traditional instrument. I did the research in the vocalism principal of the Chinese traditional instrument “Bian Zhong “. For my project involves the concept of installation art and sound art, I did research in the projects of these two areas and found no matter for installation art or sound art, the experience they brought for the audience really deviates from the traditional area and tries to show a new expressive, advanced and unique way. Most of the time, a great interactive art project involves different concepts creatively. Therefore, I want to address the challenge of how to combine sound art and installation art organically to redesign a normal and daily device in people’s lives, giving the audience unexpected experience. It intends to shift people’s mind about the normal things around them because they also can become very interactive and creative and reshape their beliefs of the traditional instrument.
It is a Large percussion instrument of the Han nationality in ancient China, emerged in the Western Zhou dynasty and flourished in the spring and autumn period and warring states period up to the qin and Han dynasties. It was made of bronze and consisted of oblate bells of different sizes arranged in order of pitch. It was hung on a huge bell stand and struck with t-shaped wooden hammers and long sticks respectively to produce different musical sounds. Because each bell had a different tone, it could be struck in accordance with the sound spectrum to produce beautiful music. A set of brass bells, of varying pitch, hung on a wooden frame, and the lady in waiting struck the instrument with a mallet. For my project is in the sound art area, I also did research in the area about why sound art is significant in the ar area and how it influences people’s life. As suggested, sound art gives extra experience based on the visual arts. What’s more, sound can trigger emotional resonance directly. Nowadays, many people forget this instrument already and very few people can operate it. I hope to upcycle this instrument and accommodate it in the modern and technological background to evoke the interest of people about this traditional instrument. My project hopes to mimic the different tone of this instrument.
Then I start to think about how to trigger the audience, and at the same time, make it seems more appealing and dexterous. I decided to upcycle a very common things-spoon to different size flowers on a wood wall or something else. I hope to apply Processing, Arduino and compacity sensor. When the audience touches these “flowers”, they can produce an ancient voice from old time. It might be beyond their expectations and the contrast further raise their desire of exploring. When they touch different flowers, they can create their own music. They might need to record what they create, I am considering whether I can build up a website and send the music to them. They might be more immersive when there are light and shadow experience. I will prepare the processing part and try the compacity sensor in the first week, and by the end of the first week, I hope to finish the basic circuits. The second week, I hope to realize the aesthetic perspective of the project and I will finish the appearance. In the second week, I hope to combine the installation and processing and seek suggestions from users, then I will do some improvements.
Project plan
April 26- April 27:
The basic design for the whole project by 3-D modeling and detailed compositions trial and errors.
Doing research about the code and innovate.
Make the decision of the main sensor and animation
Decide and start to prepare the necessary materials
Communicate with fellows and gather feedback.
April 28-May 9:
complete the code and achieve the animation
Organize the circuits and finish the physical part
May 10-13
User Test with our friends, our classmates, and IMA fellows. Make final adjustments according to the feedback.
The level of interaction. The aesthetic perspective of our project. The efficiency of our code, the concept and definition clarity…
May 14-17:
Make final improvement and prepare for the final show.
By May 22:
Blog Post
Context and Significance
My prepare research and analysis influences my design choices and definition of interaction. Instead of purchasing complicated functional artwork, I hope to put my focus on creating things have both aesthetic and simplism, and try to use available technology applications to realize the unexpected, unique experience. These two chases align with my project definition. In the combination of the research artworks and another interesting video about interactive art project (attached below), my project also will bring unexpected experience to the audience and show the contrast, at the same time, conveying an emotional and cultural connection. For the current existing traditional music instrument, it is very heavy and hard to operate. It faces the danger of disappearing. Modern people don’t have strong emotional connections with the instrument. However, the unique tone of the instrument is really valuable and attractive. My project involves upcycling technology to accommodate the traditional instrument into the modern background. I keep the voice but I want to change its appearance for it might be more flexible. Simultaneously, music can help people to release their emotions and convey their feelings. As this interactive traffic light inspires, dancing can help people be more patient in waiting. It also reflects the magic of upcycling technology based on a normal product. The frame and idea of my project can be applied to many other installations in daily life to make them have sound and enrich people’s life. Most of the galleries and museums are soundness, the sound installation can combine with architecture design of museum and galleries to give visitors a more interactive and immersive experience when they appreciate other artworks. For example, a sound wall, a melody path, an installation can give a different sound with the change of audiences’ emotion. It also can serve to exaggerate atmosphere. It also can be applied to re-design and upcycle other music instruments into more accessible and available artworks for normal people who like to play with it but don’t have much professional music knowledge. Meanwhile, our project explores a new interaction between the human and natural environment by containing the natural factors. It also distinguishes sustainable development through using the wasted material, which inspires the audience to consider a new attitude toward the things ignored in life. The project also allows us to have a new insight into the combination of traditional culture and modern technology.