User:Pleun/grad/ProposalTWO2

Rewriting my graduation intent.

After our talk on the 25th I realized a few things. Firstly that I hadn't written about my main path & goals and secondly that I wrote about an interest which could turn into a written text and a project intention, but I did not yet write about a project.

The last three years I've been taking steps towards a practice that borrows from my design background but focusses on an experience based output. Before those three years, 2014, I had been developing my information design and main graphic design skills that would result mainly in printed media and web-based works. Both of those would be considered done the moment it was made public, without a transformative afterlife or a further interaction with the public. In this process, the maker and the public are very disconnected from each other to the point where they don't really meet at any point. I felt more and more dissatisfied with that method, as I realized Information Design the way I practiced it wasn't functioning the way I was intending it to function. Information design as an information carrier has its flaws, namely: you always have to generalize and abstract the data, with large quantities the graphs get more complicated and there isn't always time to decipher the data or sufficient explanation available so a lot of information is lost and lastly see my earlier comment about the disconnection with your reader. In newspapers or books these problems are solvable and there is a lot of good examples that do that, but I didn't see myself only working on those platforms. So I was searching for other ways to design, or rather: create and share new narratives about current affairs and interests as I describe it on my website. First off I expected to find my holy grail in coding, which is mainly why I came to the Piet Zwart to be honest. I expected to dive into interactive projects online, where I would find my way of creating and sharing content which would create the user-experience that I was aiming for. When I actually arrived in Rotterdam though, I found myself in search for directer contact with an audience. I found myself disliking the screen between me and my public more and more. It's not that I don't see myself doing any web-based work anymore, not at all, but rather that my search for a method that combines design and experience isn't finished yet.

One of the first things I did after coming to Rotterdam and realizing the above is VJ'ing. Why? Because although VJ's are in service to a party, the practice combines graphics and public in a very direct way. It's live performing design. And there is a lot to gain in this field. There are not that many experimental VJ's out there. Could I tell a story within this role and engage with an audience? I have been experimenting with different layers of fabric in the space I'm performing in and multiple beamers to create a very direct interaction. The public can literally be inside the design, play with the design, dance through the fabrics. The software I started with is free and open source (VPT7) and is next to a VJ software also a projection mapping tool, which allows me to map out the fabrics in the space. I just started to use a different software as well which is called GLMixer, also free and open source, which allows me to mix media in a slower pace.

The second thing I became interested in was 3D animation. Why again? Because I was interested in how 3D could aid to the goal of creating an experience. I wanted to create VR worlds, and see if I could create VR worlds in actual physical space with multiple screens or projectors. The project I did on Museumnight last year came close to that wish as we build a cube of 3 by 3 by 3 meters so people could walk inside the design. 3D could also be an addition to my design practice and could function online through WebGL and ThreeJS. I would really like to create a live environment. I would need a gaming engine for that, but first I had to have experience making 3D objects, so I started out with Blender. After a while of practicing, I just downloaded Unity (Game engine) a few weeks ago, and I'm planning to slowly move towards this goal of being able to use live 3D worlds as a storytelling device.

And finally, I became interested in performance and theatre. Mainly because I met some theatre students, I started to see more plays. After seeing Prometheus Ontketend, the second from the Internet trilogy by URLAND (a Rotterdam based theatre group) I started to see the potential in combination with my own practice. This is still one of my favorite pieces, because it combines technology, visuals and theater in a way they amplify eachother.

– https://urland.nl/werk/explorer-prometheus-ontketend
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgiSu__qRYs