_In The Bubble
I’ve just gratuated as bachelor in Digital Design with a theoretical paper about the conceptual and interactive installation I’ve called – In The Bubble. The purpose of the project is to investigate the relationship between the concept of social interaction and my installation. In short the installation makes use of a responsive capacity to create privatized bobbles around its participants. This is made possible through numerous computer-inspected pressure sensors which track the positions of the participants and electrical motors which shapes the dynamic bubbles. The participants is therefore a substantial part of the installation and its outcome. The bubble follow your every move.
Based on social interaction between the bystanders, the participants and a greater collective unit, the installation outlines the interplay between the private and the public and creates a portrayal of the everyday social interaction we as humans embark upon.
The primary theory used in the paper is based upon the work of sociologist Erwin Goffman and his thoughts on social behavior in public places. These theories constitute the foundation upon which the investigation is built supported by other pertinent sources. Visualizations and 3D renderings are used throughout the paper to help explain and discuss the interactive capabilities and limitations of the installation.
The analysis of the artwork shows that the overriding guideline – social interaction – is present both within and around the space of the interactive artwork. This, in turn, makes it possible to understand and discuss what the concept does for the actual experience and the space of interpretation.
The paper argues that social interaction exists not only among the participants, but has branched out into all the social events around the artwork. The social interaction is interpreted from three key spaces: the bystander’s social space, the participant’s social space and the social collective space. These key spaces constitute a social complexity that enhances the relationships between those present and gives an understanding of one’s own and others’ actions in space, while creating awareness of the inevitable confrontation with the surroundings. It is thus social interaction perceived and interpreted through both the private space, the confrontational meetings and a greater collective creation of meaning. Hence you are private in a social space.
The paper can be downloaded….HERE! (In danish)
A view from inside the bubble: (the encounter)
The geometrical movement of the installation (without the strings):
The construction (sectional view):
31.07.2010(17:32)
Interesting, but I see no description of how the triangles stretch to accommodate their elongated shapes when the points are pulled. Until that technicality is resolved, this idea is like a time machine: fun to think about, but impossible to make.
31.07.2010(18:36)
i just have to say; what a great idea, is totally posible to get finantial help to start workin on it, please let me know if it will become a reality (:
01.08.2010(09:55)
First of all I’m very excited that so many of you like my work – thanks! About the stretchability of the triangles, it’s important to add that the strings you see on the pictures are metal pipes which helps to maintain the construction of a permanent square. Additionally the lines that connects between these pipes (and creates the triangles) are made in a flexible material (kinda like a rubber-band). The lines can without to much resistance be stretched with a increment of more than 100 %. The materials in between these lines are a textile with is shaped to accommodate the largest possible triangle in the bubble-shape. Briefly told these qualities is the foundation of the dynamic shapes.
01.08.2010(17:35)
This concept is curious and I would love to be able to see this actualized. What would keep the form flat when you’re raising the mounds? I’m wondering if angle of that parabola would be wider than depicted? As when you pinch a piece of flexible fabric that’s on a stretcher, the outside of where you’re pinching comes up with it as well, unless it’s being forced down somehow. So…maybe magnets? so it would take considerable force to separate it from the floor. that way, you’ll get that nice height without a large radius?
02.08.2010(09:59)
@Nikki. I too hope this project can be realized in the near future. And I truly understand there are many factors about the construction of the form that might first show when I’m able to make some real 1:1 tests etc. The flatness of the form when the construction is formed is held in place by the metal pipes which are controlled in specific heights according to which position it represents in the form. The form of the bubble is in other words predetermined and controlled by a computer which keeps track of the many motors and the positions of the participants. The form (as you see it on the last picture on this site) is therefore controlled by the stiff metal pipes and their motors. In the early stages in the design process I did work with the idea of electromagnets to maintain the flatness but was worried about the form if the strings were a wire and not a stiff metal pipe. I hope I answered your question well enough…