User:Yoana
The Moment I knew what I wanted to do
I wanted to make something that I was connected with on a personal level. The moment which I knew what I wanted to do was when I had to repeat myself in my descriptions in the school and when no one could get my ideas.
What do you make?
I am making a circuit generated by a person. I wanted to make something that was quite literal in a way where the project is more of a participatory instillation.
What is your topic of interest?
I am interested in people’s reaction to different objects and situations.
What is your medium?
For me there are two factors here- the physical (human) and the technical/artificial (internet, phone, etc. )
Brainstorming
Construction
The construction, even though for some people may look easy, was a bit of a hassle to make. As a student who has never touched wires and electrical instruments to make something before, this was quite the experience. The construction consists of a wooden box, a light bulb, 5 meter cable, plug, switch and posters. I think the hardest part was trying to figure out how to connect the cables to the light switch. There was no information if the wires on one side had to be mirroring the wires on the other so that the colours of the wires match.
What would have I made better
If I had the chance to redo my project or do it again with small changes, I do not think I would change anything. Maybe the location of where the instillation was put and the colour of the light bulb would be the things that I would change.
Conclusion
Overall I was very satisfied with the instillation. The entire ‘circle’ was working exactly how I wanted it to work.
What I learned from this project
I definitely learned a handful of new skills, whether that was the soldering or struggling to cut wires and figuring out which one belonged to which place. I learned to be more patient with this process especially when there is electricity involved small bolts and tiny tunnels where wires need to be put thru. I definitely learned how to efficiently search for electronic building videos on YouTube to help me complete the project.
GOT IT?
On the internet there is a massive flow of information that we find ourselves browsing through, there are pages and pages of it yet we are skipping the majority of without actually understanding their content. The internet is also an international space where everything fits, an individual can upload almost everything with no concern what would happen next, compared to international spaces in the real life we can observe the exact same phenomenon. People interpret the information they receive according to some inherent traits that partially depend on their origin and ethnical culture. However, one often pretends to perceive things in the way others do in fear of being judged or considered different.
The fact that I am doing an exchange was my inspiration for this project. There is always that space between different languages that separates us. Throughout my experience I had a lot of cases where I am talking and the person that is standing in front of me does not understand what I am talking about or just does not get what I am trying to say. There is always that cultural and national separation as well. It is sometimes very difficult when there is a conversation happening and the other person cannot understand the joke or the idea because of different norms and cultural differences. Communication always has a purpose that can vary depending on language, emotional or mental condition of receptor, the environment, nationality, level of knowledge, clarity of the message and so on.
My construction consists of a circle circuit made to switch when a person steps on it. The message ‘circles’ in the system I created just like electricity flows in a circle in the circuit. The idea is to be confused by the writing in the posters and try to figure out what they are all about. The posters are written in Greek, Spanish, Japanese, Haitian, Indonesian and Bulgarian. When you go closer and turn on the switch a light which is installed on top of the posters light up. Inside there is a question saying ‘Got it?’ which is quite a clear message. When the viewer accidentally hits the switch the instillation automatically responds instead of him with the light switching. Hence he/she is engaged in a dialog with the poster. The principle is that when the light is on the message is delivered, when the switch is hit we have a successful communication. That way I want to show what I am experiencing throughout my exchange due to the confusion and the expectations of ‘getting’ the point. Successful communication is what happens when the receptor/ receiver can understand the message that the transmitter is sending. ‘Get what’ this is the message, the unclearness of their message is the message.
