The final product perfected through the groups input and many many many iterations.
During the early stages of our concept as a group we talked about how best to present our concept. In this meeting we discussed many aspects about the design. How would we make it? What would it look like? How will we attract curious on-goers? And most importantly how would it work the way we wanted it too?
These were all questions that we felt necessary to ask right through to the day it was implemented. And what a day that was!
We wanted to keep the design as simple as possible to allow the idea of the concept itself to do the talking. As a group we decided that a simple, waist height metal looking pole with a buzzer on the top would be the way to go.
We knew though that the concept contained a flaw that could be detrimental to the success of the project. As stated in the brief we had to create reflection and discussion about the thesis, amongst people who would interact with the installation. The problem was we knew it would create discussion, but the installation by itself is not literal enough to guide the response.
To solve this we came up with the poster board users would visit after interacting with the pole. This would contain facts about how many people trusted which sense over the other and similar things to not control the reflection but guide it the direction we needed it to go in.
Another initial concern was that the pole would blend into the many other objects people don’t take notice of on their day-to-day commute. As you can see from the sketches we felt like the best way to solve this was to control the user. Footsteps would be placed along the ground leading up to the pole and away to the poster board. This would regulate how people would use the installation.
The group had an image of what we wanted the installation to look like in our head but it was time to source the materials and make it a reality. We knew that what we could find and what was available would ultimately determine the final product.
After many hours of hard work and searching all across Brisbane, which may never be fully appreciated, one of our courageous and dedicated team members found the basics of what would form the pole. A pvc pipe 1m long. A pvc endcap with a hole, and a balloon to be used as a buzzer. This was joined by some spray paint to make the pvc look like metal, and some glue to hold it all together.
Making the pole for the most part went smoothly and to plan, however there were some complications. Spray paint was a constant hassle. The pole needed a sand down to get the spray paint to stick, the dry time was by no means quick enough for the attention span of the person making the pole, and it would latter need another 2 or 3 coats to get things looking good. Not to mention the drive way that was accidently destroyed in this process.
Another problem was the glue not been strong enough to support lifting the pole up by the pvc endcap. This resulted in around 4 re-glues.
After finally finishing the pole it was time for a quick test, which would ultimately result in much more work than initially planned. Once the speaker system was placed inside the pole the controller, which would normally send the signal to the speakers without a problem would not work. The signal was simply not strong enough to penetrate the pvc pipe and therefore a hole had to be cut it the side to allow for the speakers to remain under our control.
The last obstacle that had to be faced was the weight of the pole. We felt as a team It wasn’t heavy enough to maintain a still presence when touched upon, and this affected the overall professionalism of the pole. WE solved this by putting 8kg’s of weight attached to the inside of the pole which was more than sufficient to prepare the pole for what was about to come...
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