‘REFLECTION’ began as a response to the inquiry of: “What if we use therapeutic tools to overcome the fears and limitations of the human condition?”; as such, the presented artefact is an embodiment of this conclusion and the apex of the goal we have set out to achieve: a playful installation that manipulates users into performing tasks that confront their ideals on the human condition.
A culmination of the inquiry brings about ‘REFLECTION’, whose namesake dictates its desire for the user to ponder, speculate and stew on their own position within society. In it, the user is invited to enter a light and sound deprived chamber, where they are exposed only to a bright screen. Showing, is a simulation of an equally sparse room, the player presented with two pillars and an icon on each. Slipping their hands into the ‘shackles’ (made from crutches), the user is instructed by a robotic voice to control their on-screen avatar to select an option in order to continue. As the simulation continues, the options become increasingly unbearable to decide between as they present equally morally disturbing factions: to sacrifice one’s mother or father? The controls are simplistic and there is minimal UI and no score or goal (bar finishing) so as to avoid gamifying as much as possible.
What the user does not know is that their actions are to be broadcast outside the chamber to the public audience; this internal/external dichotomy is meant to create a sense of agency for the user upon leaving the box, who may feel a sense of guilt or embarrassment upon learning that their actions have been publicised. This strengthens this project’s aim of demonstrating the consequences that the conscience may bring.
Ideation and learning — as forms of stimulus — are catalysts to playfulness (Tomasso, 2011); the purpose of this project is thus to educate viewers on the human condition as it is our belief that development only arises from challenging the status quo. Conditions, defined as the current state of a being (condition, n.d.), have been traditionally treated through therapeutic tools in light of their negative connotation. Posing the human condition then — specifically its subsidiary of the human conscience — in this light, accentuates its problems and calls for a ‘cure’ for this mental disease.
Considering the blend of non-conventionally unified concepts, certain design principles have been used as guidance to shape the project’s development. Though relegated to the agricultural department, permaculture principles have relevant application to design principles.
Permaculture, from the root words ‘permanent agriculture’ defines a “consciously designed [landscape] which [mimics] the patterns and relationships found in nature,” (Holmgren, 2002), looking at the functions of plants and animals and using their philosophy as an integrated system to inform ecological design. Its principles can be synonymously used in the scope of this project, which relies on the cohesion of physical and mental elements to form a functioning system; specifically, this denotes the principle of the ‘edge effect’.
An ecological concept describing the changes in communities occurring at habitual boundaries, the ‘edge effect’ phenomenon dictates an increased chance for unique diversity in the event of overlapping ecosystems (Holmgren, 2002). In accordance with the principle, it can be said analogously that the most optimised solution resulting from the inquiry stems from an adaptation of its bordering ideologies. Theoretically, borrowing the most relevant and core concepts of both the human condition (a psychological standpoint) and therapeutic tools (a technological standpoint) would thus create an integrated and impactful system.
Beyond design perspectives, analysis of psychological and philosophical theories are key to creating both a justified basis and reflective framework. Conscience, as we know it, can be defined as one’s “commitment to morality itself; to acting and choosing morally according to the best of one’s ability,” (Sulmasy, 2008). Freud (1994) himself critically assesses the conscience as a benefactor of guilt when disobeyed (even going so far as to reference provocation as the “fear of conscience”), its own existence a psychological development following the growth of civilisation. The conscience, he states, is even a developmental factor in one’s neurosis.
While Glautier (2007) dictates that the conscience is necessary for the formation of groups, it can be inversely argued that this instinctual drive is what creates a segmented society itself. Values drive human beings to flock around those with similar outlooks, but a problem arises when members create divisions from those who do not share their perspectives. Although removing a conscience does not mean that the desire to act on these ideals becomes inherent, it opens a limitless potential for free will without judgement.
Thematically, this project draws on anti-humanism as a central concept, where it denotes a philosophical perspective that directly rejects its counterpart, humanism’s, “elevation of human beings to a special metaphysical level of existence compared to the rest of reality” (RationalWiki, n.d.). Rebuffing the status quo, anti-humanism poses a realist perspective requiring solution in the path to achieving a utopia by viewing the current conditions of life as flawed.
Heidegger’s (1947) approach to anti-humanism criticises the humanist anthropocene, in which he believes instead that humans’ ‘free will’ and consciousness is dictated by the circumstances in which they are inserted into, adhering to their being as social and historic. In relation to this project’s existence in the real world where modern society dictates us to be a system, it brings about the questions; what does it mean to challenge the status quo and become an outlier, and what consequences would this bring about? These thoughts are further explored in Althusser’s (1964) similar stance in anti-humanism.
As an artefact riding on its direct connection with the audience, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943) acts as the framework for understanding the motivations of the subject, and thus, what needs to be done to allow one to cooperate with the project’s message. It describes the pattern that human motivations generally move through, urging the attainment of the pyramid’s sixth stage — self transcendent needs — in order that one reach ‘Enlightenment’. This ‘Enlightenment’ as a motif in the context of this project, translates to a utopian goal brought about through the success of the inquiry.
Isolation tanks, specifically Chamber REST, became the primary representation of the therapeutic tool due to its powerful psychological effects. By achieving an environment simulative of the aforementioned, powerful cognitive behaviours that run largely parallel to the desired ambience of our project’s theme may be achieved. REST denotes the chamber practice in which the subject lays on a bed in complete darkness with environmental sound reduction for 24 hours at most. One is not restricted through mechanical means, but rather suggestive, with the subject being able to freely move and leave within the allotted time. Among the fundamental facilitation and maintenance of attitudinal and behavioural change, the effects of REST extend to the physiological functions of internal refocus, increased self-control, increased sense of realism, and alleviation to phobias and relapse, among others (Barabasz, Barabasz, Dyer, & Rather, 1993).
For ‘REFLECTION’ specifically, a visually contextual and aesthetic influence stems from Verbinski’s ‘A Cure For Wellness’ (2017), wherein human limitations (this time from the angle of mortality) are expunged through scientific practices (i.e. ‘therapy’). The film’s antagonist aptly states: “Do you know what the cure for the human condition is? Disease. Because only then is there hope, for a cure.” This correlates directly with the scope of the inquiry, whose purpose frames the conscience, a subset of the human condition, as exactly that — a disease. In conjunction with the explored theories and philosophies, the question (“What if we use therapeutic tools to overcome the fears and limitations of the human condition?”) makes sense if one were to seek ‘Enlightenment’, as the shackles of humanity become unchained.
Development on this project was partitioned into subdivided elements in order to best test the whole. For the physical side, rapid prototyping (“Rapid Prototyping: An Overview,” n.d.) was the preferred methodology used in order to ascertain the final design through smaller scale models. Sketches evolved first into isometric drawings, then small cardboard artefacts and larger cardboard installations, before finally moving to a fully scaled wood build. This was a necessary technique used to ensure that materials were not wasted and experimentation and error margin could be contained to the design phase.
For the digital simulation end, decisions were executed based on feedback received through multi-stage prototype testing throughout the semester: “Test; analyse; refine. And repeat;” a process described as iterative design (Salen, & Zimmerman, 2004). The test group would play the simulation’s then current state and provide feedback, creating an ongoing constructive dialogue between “the designers, the design, and the testing audience.” Split into two parts, the simulation’s narrative was tested on Twine (an interactive choice creating program), with the mechanics (and ultimately final iteration) created on Unity.
Accounting for the difficulty of gauging the ‘success’ of the project considering its subjective and abstract quota, testers were queried on a framework similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, in terms of disturbance to one’s psyche. Satisfaction over the stage was deemed through even a small change in one’s perspective. Change after all, begins with the sowing of but a small seed.
While it is expected that a project of this scale with such a small window for user exposure will probably not fully reformulate one’s attitudes, it does call and bring attention to the validity of the status quo. Why must we accept what exists, simply because we are told it is ‘right’? Can therapy be used to overcome the limitations of the human condition? In many ways, albeit subjectively, ‘REFLECTION’ highlights this notion as possible prospect.
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