Lost in Rain -post morterm

-After the Show

Some people loved it. some people didn't get it.
I can't please everyone.
But I should work hard anyway.
The invitation worked for few people, but majority in ITP show were to busy to read it.

It takes a lot to encourage people to interact with an art project.
For lot of people art is still something that is supposed to be admired and guarded in a museum and something you are not supposed to touch at all. I saw a woman with a son. Her son tried to reach to the umbrella, and the she warned him, 'You are not supposed to touch it!', and I had to tell her 'You are actually supposed to step on the puddle and pick up the umbrella here.'

The fabric still discourage people to step on it even with the invitation.

-Lost in Rain for future

*What if I had a video instead of the written invitation?
(The video of me picking up the umbrella and looking up in the rainy day.) Visual language will works faster and clearer than written language.

*I imagine having a big dark rainy room with a high ceiling(so the projection is much bigger). In the entrance there's a basket of umbrellas, and as you enter the room you take one of them. each of you with different umbrella see different things on the umbrella,or, as you move, you see different things on the umbrella.

*I want people to get wet, with a real water. I remember being in a performance 'Del la Guarda'. Yes, it wasn't just a watching a performance. It was being in a performance. They warn the audience to come with a soakable(?) cloth. If you are afraid of getting wet there, you are a loser. once you overcome your fear, you are just one of them. I know an art installation is different with a performance.

*Anyway, what I want to deliver is an immersion of an imagination on one rainy day.

Lost in Rain -progress

Challenge and Solution.

1.How would they know that they are supposed to pick up & open the umbrella?
- whispering 'pick me up' audio?
-lost and found set-up.

2.How Would they know that when they open the umbrella, they are supposed to look up?(From Shlomit's opinion, it's more likely that they will look down since they already see the projection on the floor before the action. )
- I am going to put pieces of reflective material on the floor so they could see themselves with the projection on the umbrella. When there's no interaction, they will reflect the projection to the wall.

Lost in Rain

-Short

Lost in Rain is collection of lost umbrellas which you can experience a different video projection on them by opening up the umbrella.

-Description

Under the raining sound, there are different lost/broken umbrellas with different colors folded on the table. As you open one of them, you begin to see a video projected on the umbrella.
The video is a combination of short images and loops related to the former owner's personal relationship with rain. Each umbrella will show a different video.(Using color tracking in Jitter)

-Concept

1) Object

I have been interested with using an object(ideally used) to show a personal story or images. For every used object, in Sherlock Homes' point of view, even a subtle mark is a good evidence which might reflect the owner's personality. In my point of view as an artist, it's a good chance to use an imagination to create an illusion based on reality.

2) Rain

I am fascinated by an atmosphere that rain emulates. Even though you are under the same rain and we have a general imageries and emotions about rain, each people still get a different feeling, craving, and inspiration depending on their experience,background and personality.

3) Umbrella

Value of an umbrella is completely depended on whether it is raining or not. You are stranded because you don't have umbrella. You borrow umbrella from someone. Even a broken one is appreciated. As the rain stop you throw a broken umbrella. You leave your new umbrella at the bar. It's one of the thing you break and loose often, and lend or borrow often(even from strangers).
Umbrella is an object which often ends up broken or lost, or passes to a different people.

-Implementation

It is made of two projectors and camera hung on the ceiling facing down. Using the camera, I will program in Jitter to recognize each different colors from different umbrellas and to play a different video as one of the umbrella opens.

-Research/Reference

-I found the artists who already tried a projection on different umbrellas. In their work RAIN/FALL Megan Roberts and Raymond Ghirardo used white traditional paper umbrellas to project abstract images falling like a rain.
http://ithacafinechocolates.stores.yahoo.net/meroandraygh.html

-To get an inspiration for a video contents, I am currently requesting people to post their different feeling and story on rain.
http://yourrainyday.pbwiki.com/

-The movie 'Red violin', where the different stories in different time and world are played through the history of the violin.

-My previous project 'Paso Andando', where we applied my used shoes as an method of showing the travel picture where the shoes have been.

Dream Cloud- Monument for Astor Place

Goal

Giving a life to the urban landscape.
Making people to look up (look at the the sky often)
Creating an urban ritual for citizen
Making a temporal monument of people's dream

Form

Inflatable Sculpture Mobile

Content

Life, Born, Growth and Death. People's dream. Their action.

Dream cloud is an inflatable sculpture on the sky. There are a inflatable balls in different shape and size suspended by the traffic-light stands on each corner of the island. The rope reaches close to the passenger's eyesight, and it has a handle at the end. This handle will animate the sculpture.

Being high up on the sky, the sculpture will draw attention to the sky. Living in the city, you hardly look up. It will give you a chance where you can play with something moving on your top with the sky as a background.

Born

This creature has a life. It lives for a year.
It starts with an eggs.
People come and on very light and small pieces of Glow-in-the-Dark paper, they write two or three sentence or drawing of their dream. There are several pumps they people could step on. As they step on it, it starts to grow. when there are enough dreams, the eggs leave the ground.

Life


-Each shapes have a very subtle repetitive motion of breathing(inflate-deflate).

-It is moved by people. People's certain rudimentary actions might cause it to move too.(opening the door, leaning at the stand, sitting on the bench..).

-At night the Glow-in-the-Dark paper will start to brighten like a firefly/jellyfish

-In occasion of the sculpture being deflated by hazardous weather, there would be a recovery session to inflate it. In this case the human-power pumps will be used again.(People are responsible to keep it live)

Death

-After an year, it explodes.
-There's a rain fall of dreams a year ago.
-This is a day of festivity. People are singing and dancing under the rain.

Astor Place, Nov. 11, Personal realization

Living on Saint Marks Place, I always have to deal with the crowds whether I like or not. Tourists, weekend crowds, Punk crowds, crazy people,etc.

It's quiet surprising to see how one place could be perceived differently in same period by different people or in different period by same person.

An year and two months ago, everything was fresh for me in New York, even the daily route to school, which was from 14th St. & Ave.B to Broadway & Waverly. It took few weeks to figure out the short cut, which was taking Stuyvesant Street from 2nd Ave. to 3rd Ave. and taking Astor Place from 3rd Ave. to Broadway. I remember the moment I first found out about the cube(that you can spin it) on the way home. I was excited to spin it with my friend who was also new to here. Since it wasn't in my short cut route, Saint Marks Pl. was the street I go occasionally. I would take the street when I felt bored with my regular route. I would go to some Japanese Restaurant there. I would take my friend or my mom who visited me to show around.

Since this September, my route has changed. I moved to Saint Marks Place between 1st Ave. and Ave. A. Not that I wanted, but I was looking for apartment in East Village and found where I live now.
On my way home from the subway today, I had to pass the black cube island. Weekend is always on Astor Pl. and Saint Marks. I saw these young people spinning the cube, excited.
'What are they doing? They must have lot of energy. I would not bother spinning the cube in this cold. Better go home soon. Oh, those tourists, you always block my way.'
This was what was in my mind passing the cube today. I remember I was once excited and probably blocking the street like that guiding my friend.

References

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.eaf.asn.au/2006/grf/chico_inst2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.eaf.asn.au/2006/macmurtrie.html&h=300&w=400&sz=16&hl=en&start=13&sig2=PGBhpjG-ZiVEO3HQAPLfEA&um=1&tbnid=uIsbiPWXOQ1umM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&ei=lUsvR_mQKYiGgQKt_4jrBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2BChico%2BMacmurtrie%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

Dream Cloud

Goal

Giving a life to the urban landscape.
Making people to look up (look at the the sky often)
Creating an urban ritual for citizen
Making a temporal monument of people's dream

Form

Inflatable Sculpture Mobile

Content

Life, Born, Growth and Death. People's dream. Their action.

Dream cloud is an inflatable sculpture on the sky. There are a inflatable balls in different shape and size suspended by the traffic-light stands on each corner of the island. The rope reaches close to the passenger's eyesight, and it has a handle at the end. This handle will animate the sculpture.

Being high up on the sky, the sculpture will draw attention to the sky. Living in the city, you hardly look up. It will give you a chance where you can play with something moving on your top with the sky as a background.

Born

This creature has a life. It lives for a year.
It starts with an eggs.
People come and on very light and small pieces of Glow-in-the-Dark paper, they write two or three sentence or drawing of their dream. There are several pumps they people could step on. As they step on it, it starts to grow. when there are enough dreams, the eggs leave the ground.

Life


-Each shapes have a very subtle repetitive motion of breathing(inflate-deflate).

-It is moved by people. People's certain rudimentary actions might cause it to move too.(opening the door, leaning at the stand, sitting on the bench..).

-At night the Glow-in-the-Dark paper will start to brighten like a firefly/jellyfish

-In occasion of the sculpture being deflated by hazardous weather, there would be a recovery session to inflate it. In this case the human-power pumps will be used again.(People are responsible to keep it live)

Death

-After an year, it explodes.
-There's a rain fall of dreams a year ago.
-This is a day of festivity. People are singing and dancing under the rain.
-The skin material are recycled for use of bags or any products as a souvenir. The profit is donated to the help making children's dream come true in developing country.