To conceptualize our artsy installation we created sketches for the function, behavior and structure.
Function ”what the object is for”
What is the art installation for? We decided that it should be an art installation since we had not created any tangible interactions with the concept, it is more about the perceptual. The function of the concept is to raise awareness about the rapidly growing population, where we want it to communicate or provoke people to think about the problematic things that come with overpopulation, such as limited space and resources. We think that by portraying how the sand filling up the globe, will build up tension for the viewer and thereby provoke them to think about the problems. Last but not least(!) we thought that the installation could encourage people to minimize reproduction, which I feel is not very thought through. I believe people would start thinking of how they’re living their lives (consumption etc) before thinking of minimizing their reproduction, but that also depends on where in the world people live. In the western world we can change our consumption, but that is not true for poor people.
Behavior
To achieve it’s function, the installation will receive live data of daily birth and death numbers. The globe will be filled with sand based on live data of the rapidly increasing birth numbers. At the same time, sand will leak through the bottom of the globe based on live data of death rates. The holes in the globe (input and output) can adjust since the data of numbers changes frequently. The growing population will be visualized as the sand filling up the globe.
There are some problems with the installation. Should the globe be filled with sand to portray the current state of overpopulation? How do we even know what the current state is? We can not say when the overpopulation has reached the earth limits, thus the globe cannot be filled up since we don’t know when that time will arrive.
With our prototype and installation, we would have to have some amount of sand already inside of the globe. The problem with this is that would be a visual representation of the current state of the planet. If we would, for example, fill the globe up to exactly half, then we would in that case say to the audience that ”we’re halfway”. We cannot say that we’re halfway since that would just be a speculation, which is a problem with our concept. Whatever amount of sand we put in the globe, we would be saying that the globe is in some state of overpopulation. We could potentially say that we go after statistics of the estimated time that scientist have developed, however I believe these estimations are questioned in many different ways. Maybe we could also say that the amount of sand that it started with was the amount of population today, around 7 billion people. But how do we even measure the amount sand to the current state of the earth compared to when it has reached it limits? We can’t. The topic of overpopulation brought it’s challenges that we had to encounter during the design process.
Structure
Our concept will be an art installation that physicalizes population data.
Contextuality – since the installation was designed for the mass public, we discussed where people could access it easily. We decided that it should be placed in central stations in capital cities around the world, to reach as many people as possible.
Sustainability – the concept needs to be sustainable and last in time, thus we had to think of what material we should use to reach that goal. The nozzle that drops sand is made out of metal so it wouldn’t be damaged by the frequent moving sand. The globe is made out of plexiglass in order to be transparent and resistant of weather conditions and possible touching by people. The leaking process of the globe is controlled by one lid in the top, one in the bottom. Arduino is used to control the live data input and to make adjustments according to changes in data. A container on the ”ground” will collect the leaking sand and pump it back to the top sand container, making it reusable. The sand in the bottom is colored by dark light to make it clear about the difference birth and death. The installation will be inside a glass box to protect it from weather conditions and light up the installation.
The next part of our design process is to create a prototype.
Prototyping
Before we started we discussed how to create the prototype. How will we make the earth? Since one part to provoke is the sand filling the globe, we want the globe to transparent, so that people can see how the earth get filled with sand (population). However, we had a hard time finding a solution for the transparent ball, we even looked for transparent balls to buy online but they were made out of glass, which wouldn’t work. Also, to make the globe looking like earth, we had to print a picture of the earth which would be really hard to put on a round surface. Another idea was to use a transparent balloon but that would be really hard to make holes in.
We came to another solution which was to make 2d prototype. However, it doesn’t feel right, one of the important things for data physicalization is that we can perceive the actual size of the object with less effort and more accuracy. Since we had little time we decided to go for the 2d prototype and not to build the whole art installation, instead we would focus on the important parts (i.e. the tree which leaks sand, the globe that is filled with sand and the bottom part that collect sand).
So how would we create the globe in 2d and still make it able to collect sand? (sand wasn’t used because we couldn’t get it, instead we used bath salt). We thought of creating the earth model using the laser cutter to create MDF frames, since it’s a quick and looks good. Jesper made three circled frames. One in a complete circle, one just a frame and the third was split in two parts, so that we could make a larger hole in the top and smaller in the bottom. By gluing the three frames together, we could use the space in between to fill the globe with the bath salt.
How would we keep the bath salt in the 2d representation, and still be able to see it?
We used transparent film that made this possible, by putting it between the MDF frames.
How would we portray the earth?
Since we used the transparent film, we were able to put a picture of the earth on the back (complete circle).
How would we create the tree of life part?
We printed a large picture of a tree which was cut out. This was glued on cardboard for better support. The tree was useful to hide the bottle of bath salt that would leak down in to the globe.
I think that this week has been the most challenging so far. Even though the task was kind of open for creativity, which usually should be an opportunity, I found the openness a challenge. It made me have to think more and further because topics within sustainability are broad and often have a deeper problem than we think.
Reflective design journal 