Reflection from the clinic
In todays last class, we had a reflection clinic about the market and was interesting to hear everyones feedback about the different markets. There was a lot of good feedback for our abandoned materials market however it seemed that the participants didn’t like the way finding as it came across confusing since it was spread across different levels which seemed like different entrances.
Below are some notes I wrote during the clinic session:
- good flow throughout the market
- Theme was cohesive
- good atmosphere, everyone was very energetic
- participants related well to the childhood theme
- Having common ground from the past creating a nostalgic feeling for the participants to relate back to
- could have taken things from the past and turned it to modern/futuristic
- strong aesthetic right from the start of the market
- couple of stalls didn’t quite resemble the theme eg the mail stall
- everyone got involved and it was all the same level
- movie stall had a good offering
- too many levels throughout the market (felt bitsy) and the entrances were confusing as there were too many
- some of the stalls did really well in terms of having both elements of the childhood and abandoned theme
- Could have improved the way finding from the start as the way finding people had to guide participants towards the stairs/ start of the market
- Towards the end the teams lacked energy and motivation to introduce participants about their stall
- system of exchange wasn’t very clear
- some of the stalls seemed to double up
- was like an Alice and wonderland being on different levels as you didn’t know what’s next
- bad transition out from the cinemas as it went into a classroom and was a bit awkward
- Didn’t know where to leave for the exit
Photos of our stall on the market day
Final development of stall
Below are some images showing the final development of our stall before the market day, overall we have come very far and as a team are happy with what we have been able to assemble through scavenging and creative thinking. Hopefully all the passers through our stall get into the feeling of the stall and embrace the idea of travelling back to their smaller selves and then growing back up again, so that they can experience the rest of the market with as clean a slate as possible. Also hopefully the stall stays standing overnight.
Stall Development/ Artist Precedents
Our stall is based around forming a tunnel for participants to walk through and experience/ remember their abandoned dreams of childhood memories.
Below are some artist precedents of tunnel installations
Henrique Oliveira:
This artist collected abandoned pieces of wood from construction sites and reused it to form a massive tree root structure. This was essentially a tunnel ‘Transarquitetonica,’ an installation at Brazil’s Museu de Arte Contemporanea, where it was big enough for people could walk through it.
Anish Kapoor:
Anish created an installation called the ‘dirty corner’ which is in Fabric del Vapore in Milan. This tunnel was specifically design for the space and replicates the shape of the brass instrument. It invites people inside the installation however as you make your way towards the end it becomes very dark which creates an experience for the public to feel their way through it in the dark.
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer:
This artist created a light and sound (voice tunnel) installation for the public in the Park Avenue Tunnel in New York . The voice tunnel was interactive with the participants as their voices controlled the beams of light which were projected onto the walls of the tunnel. Recordings and loops of their voices were taken which then the different pitches and volume were used in order to change the lights.
I found that with all of these examples it would have given an experience for the participant, which is definitely similar to what we want to incorporate within our own market stall.
Market Critique – Market of Immaterial Labours
The market of immaterial labours responded to the third type of immaterial labour identified by Hardt – affective labour. That is, immaterial labour that ‘involves the production and manipulation of affects and requires (virtual or actual) human contact and proximity.’
From the moment we walked through the entrance we began a strong, emotional journey. Hardt said about affective labour – its products are intangible: a feeling of ease, well being, satisfaction, excitement, passion – even a sense of connectedness and community. This is exactly what the Market of Immaterial Labour achieved and it was the quick succession of many of these emotions that created the overall atmosphere of an immersive emotional experience.
The system of exchange was the exchange of emotions. What a stall offered was an environment which triggered emotions and what a participant contributed was their emotional output, whether in the form of frustration, dancing or quiet reflection.
The first door participants entered revealed three flickering tvs, white noise and three masked people creating a very ominous atmosphere. A slideshow projected onto the front wall did little to distract from the feeling that something was going to leap out at you. This offering created an ominous environment and we contributed with our fear.
The market offering involving reflection, memories and fairy lights was a very pleasant experience. The specificity of the prompts provided made it quick and easy allowing you to focus on the memory. Their stall stimulated an emotional response and participants contributed with their emotional output.
Market of Immaterial Labours Critique – Extended
Immaterial Labours
How did the overall market address the theme?
The market of immaterial labours held on Wednesday 3rd of October responded to the third type of immaterial labour identified by Hardt – affective labour. That is, immaterial labour that ‘involves the production and manipulation of affects and requires (virtual or actual) human contact and proximity.’
What was the overall atmosphere?
From the moment we walked through the entrance into a dark, flickering room there was a strong sense of anticipation and in some cases, fear or hesitation. What followed was a strong, emotional journey. Although it was not always a deeply meaningful emotional journey the often intense atmosphere at each stall or station along the way created sudden changes to your emotional state. Hardt said about affective labour – its products are intangible: a feeling of ease, well being, satisfaction, excitement, passion – even a sense of connectedness and community. This is exactly what the Market of Immaterial Labour achieved and it was the quick succession of many of these emotions as well as the edition of negative emotions such as sadness or frustration that created the overall atmosphere of quick and immersive emotional experience.
What was the system of Exchange? Is the system of exchange a good fit for the theme?
Initially it was unclear whether or not the system of exchange involved ‘Zappar’ an augmented reality app. This was enjoyable and playful although didn’t seem fully integrated into the market experience. It seemed that the market could exist quite successfully without it and often (beyond the initial excitement of it) seemed more of a hindrance to the flow of the market. After some thought it became clearer that the actual system of exchange was the exchange of emotions. What a stall offered was an environment which triggered emotions and what a participant contributed was their emotional output, whether this was in the form of painting, dancing or quiet reflection.
Is there a variety of offerings? How do they address the theme?
Each member of the group could write about 3 different offerings here.
The second offering involved standing in a dark room with a very ominous atmosphere. Three old tvs were flickering at the front of the room, white noise grew louder and louder and three masked people stood perfectly still at the back of the room. A slideshow of edited images played on a projector on the front wall although the ominous atmosphere of the room and the genuine fear that something was going to leap out at you made it hard to pay attention to the slideshow. This offering addressed the theme by creating an emotional experience.
The market offering involving reflection on past memories and fairy lights was a very pleasant experience. Upon entering the room, you were presented with a piece of paper instructing you on what to write such as ‘High School Song’. The specificity of these prompts made it a very quick and easy exercise while allowing you to focus and reflect on the memory. The addition of the fairy lights made for a very calm and contemplative environment. This offering, along with the majority of the others focused on the ‘creation and manipulation of affects’. They created a situation that stimulated an emotional response.
A market offering that was well received by many was the tranquil plant watering area. After a very emotional journey including some more negative emotions it was a welcome relief toward the end of the market. By creating a very calming atmosphere and allowing participants to help to take care of the plants the stall invoked a calming affect. The simple action of feeding the plants an eyedropper of water was in contrast, extremely soothing.
The joy store was all about having fun, as it required a lot of dancing, music and interaction with the group of people you were with. As soon as I entered into the stall, I immediately established the atmosphere and the theme as the yellow decorations set the mood, ‘joy’. This group running the stall also addressed their theme by putting on a persona of being happy as they were always smiling and carried out a positive attitude.
When I entered the sad stall I thought it had a very sad emotion to it. It was clever that they had people dressed up as ‘councillors’ which supported their theme and gave it more of a serious atmosphere. The blue colour scheme and tear drop decorations supported their theme as well as the slow music which played in the background. I thought it was a good idea how this stall used onions which gave the room a smell and made you want to cry. Overall this stall was very well thought out, as they considered the finer details right through to the overall theme of emotion.
The nostalgia stall had mixed emotions of a happy/sad nostalgic feeling. The orange decorations and nostalgic music definitely supported the theme of nostalgia. This stall involved collecting a ping pong ball and a nostalgic topic memory at the entrance. Then you promptly had to think of a memory that corresponded with the topic you were given and write it on the ball. With everyones collection of memories formed a great atmosphere as they were all hung from fairy lights. This strong idea definitely got participants interested in wanting to contribute their own memory.
Decoration Ideas
A quick brainstorm of decorations to put inside the tunnel to show progression/aging and growing up. These could be printed or painted.
- School certificates
- Pages from school books
- Birthday cards
- Santa photos
- Ball photos
- Halloween photos
- Growth charts/heights
- Letters to santa eg ‘Dear santa, can I please have a tamagotchi for christmas’ kind of thing
- Class photos
- Sports photos
- Photos with teeth missing
- Trophies, player of the day etc
- Weetbix triathlon medals & photos
- NZQA envelopes or something to symbolize exams to show growing up and leaving it close to our current age at the end of the tunnel
Rosa
Third Prototype
On Tuesday night we did another prototype set up to see how our new idea would work out. We still have a lot of work to do but made significant progress.
Group Review for Moi.t
Overall We thought the market was very successful. The way in which they managed all the visitors to each store was efficient and professional. As participants, we felt as though each stall held our attention and kept us interested, we enjoyed how each stall provided a different experience and there was no double up of ideas. The whole theme of the market was quite quirky and fit well with the impossible things idea, the way in which each stall at the beginning of the market all flew nicely together was smart and well thought through. The amount of thought they put into the whole market was shown in how successful the outcome was and how everything ran smoothly. One thing that was a bit of a letdown was that everything on the top floor seemed to fit together and flow as a sort of experience market whereas when you went downstairs it didn’t have the same sort of dynamic and flow, each stall seemed to be just dotted around the area with no easy transition between each place. Although as a whole we found that it was a successful market and a good attempt for the first market out of all three.
GreenCreativeIndustries 