User:Mxrwho/SI24 Repository/Rapid prototype5

From XPUB & Lens-Based wiki

What is it?

A wall installation (approximate size A1). A subjective sculptural map of the city of Rotterdam made out of stills of the city life and also marking the waterways. In the center there is a small screen displaying footage of a moving crowd. There are headphones playing underwater sounds gathered with microphones from the underwater landscape of the city. On the left and right there are posters with information: One displays general demographic information regarding the population of Rotterdam and the other one information regarding the waterways of Rotterdam, especially in connection to people, including their historical importance in the slave trade. This will be my project for SI24.

Why make it?

There is a metaphor in the juxtaposition of life on the surface and of life underwater/underground. I want to point out that there are aspects of life happening simultaneously that escape us and being aware of them enhances our own experience and understanding of what it means to live in a set environment. I am also interested in subjective mapping.

Workflow

Gathering information regarding the populace and the waters of the city of Rotterdam. Making a hydrophone to record underwater. Gathering underwater sounds. Gathering stills and images of the city-scape. Editing sounds and images. Printing. Creating the subjective map. Setting it up with the screen and raspberry pi.

Timetables

5 days research (including research on gear), 5 days gathering of materials, 5 days editing the material, 5 days sculpting the map, adding the technical parts (screen, headphones), and printing the posters.

Rapid Prototype

The hydrophone is ready and working (yes, I also thought "alive and kickin'").

Hydrophone

more details coming soon...

Final product

coming in about a month

Previous Practice

Rapid prototypes 3 and 4 were exercises for parts that are connected to this project, namely the parallels drawn between the seen and the unseen (also the theme of rapid prototype 2) and mapping.

Relation to a wider context

Connected to the notions of psychogeography, relational aesthetics and subjective mapping that inform my general research interests and will be part of my work for next year.