When we arrived in Columbus for class this morning, we found that a new student had joined the class and would be a part of our group for the installation project. While trying to explain the project to our new group member, Stephanie, I found that none of us could quite find the words to describe what we were doing. As someone that is used to always having words, I found this moment very uncomfortable. I felt like I was disappointing our new teammate or giving off the impression that we didn't care, but the project is ambiguous in nature and I think Stephanie began figuring that out as the morning progressed.
After getting settled in, we convened as a class and decided that we had to create a grid in the room before anymore real work could begin. We only have two ladders at our disposal, so this stalled the project for some of the groups. During this downtime, we decided to create a team of representatives (one person from each group) to meet and discuss our different ideas and design concepts. I volunteered to represent our group, and I think the discussion panel went very well. It was much easier to understand where everyone was with their designs and how we could connect them to one another when there were only 5 people taking turns speaking and interacting rather than the chaos we kept experiencing as a large group.
Once the grid was complete, our group began making more moves with our design. Once we pulled the fabric through the middle of the corner and brought it down to the floor, we all stood back and really liked the direction we were going. While throwing out ideas on where to move next, Courtney mentioned the word "spiderweb" and it became an epiphany moment for our group.
The spiderweb compasses all three of our words, and our design was already beginning to take a similar design direction. We are going to push the idea further and hope to create a "condensed" abstract spiderweb in the corner where we've been working and let it gradually dissipate throughout the room.
After getting settled in, we convened as a class and decided that we had to create a grid in the room before anymore real work could begin. We only have two ladders at our disposal, so this stalled the project for some of the groups. During this downtime, we decided to create a team of representatives (one person from each group) to meet and discuss our different ideas and design concepts. I volunteered to represent our group, and I think the discussion panel went very well. It was much easier to understand where everyone was with their designs and how we could connect them to one another when there were only 5 people taking turns speaking and interacting rather than the chaos we kept experiencing as a large group.
Once the grid was complete, our group began making more moves with our design. Once we pulled the fabric through the middle of the corner and brought it down to the floor, we all stood back and really liked the direction we were going. While throwing out ideas on where to move next, Courtney mentioned the word "spiderweb" and it became an epiphany moment for our group.
The spiderweb compasses all three of our words, and our design was already beginning to take a similar design direction. We are going to push the idea further and hope to create a "condensed" abstract spiderweb in the corner where we've been working and let it gradually dissipate throughout the room.
As we began altering our design after lunch, another group asked if we wanted to pull one piece across the room and interact with their section of the installation. It was a lot of talking all at once, and people were pulling the section of fabric every which way trying to mold it to how they felt it needed to be placed...it was overwhelming, confusing, and a bit frustrating. I took myself out of the situation and observed as two of my group members and the other group figured out the conflict, partly because I'm not confrontational and partly because the small, dusty room was giving me a migraine and I needed to sit down.
By the end of the day, we all felt that we had pushed our design as far as we can go until other groups start hanging more fabric for us to respond to. The room is already shaping up and it's interesting to see other groups blending their designs into ours, so I'm really looking forward to seeing more progress next week!
I really like your spiderweb idea, makes a lot of sense considering your images you've included and should work well when tying in with the other groups once all the specifics get worked out. Have you all considered how you will use light in your design? Light coming at an angle to those folds in your scrim could emphasize the lines they create and bring out more of the web perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI agree and like the spider web idea, my group had a similar idea of spiderweb at the very beginning which is funny. I liked how you stated the part about not having the words to describe the project, because it does definitely go beyond a standard definition. Also the frustrating aspect of dealing with many personalities and opinions is definitely something I experienced but it also where many new ideas can sprout. It will be interesting to see where this idea leads, and with the light element as Daniel mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI see the spider web idea, but I also love the waterfall effect that is happening. I think that could relate strongly to the water theme one of the other groups is exploring.
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