Mid-Semester Project Presentation

Concept

This project is a series of ephemeral experiences related to space and to its changing characteristics, and concentrates on the social gestures around a dinner table. The goal is to invite strangers to share a ritual - the act of eating- with us. These gatherings are defined as nomadic dinners that create an immersive space. The atmosphere evoked through the meals and the structure as well as its content is left to the people and the food. The sonic traces of the table-interface between the guests are captured and are furthermore influencing the dinner. Every dinner will bring back a memory of the previous dinners from the series of meals shared with strangers, wherein the actual guests will be brought to reflect upon the history of this “table” (virtual or physical). The table is not just an object; it is a social environment (space) that is experimented sonically and socially.

Concept Hypothesis

1st hypothesis: inviting people to our place, our table
2nd hypothesis: going to people’s places, their table
3rd hypothesis: taking our table to people’s places

Interactivity

There are many layers of interactivity that are interlaced in this project. Strictly speaking of non-media interactions, we have physical and intellectual (emotional) interactions that arise through human contact, verbal communication and the act of eating and sharing food. By adding sonic elements, we are capturing fragments of non-tangible exchanges between the guests and the “objects”. Furthermore, the interactivity being influenced by the participants of the meal, the traces/gestures on the table are being diffused or re-diffused to call for distraction, goal: to develop a better awareness of space and how it can influence us since we are influencing it back (feedback). This gathering and its interactions create an ambiance ruled by the imagination of the past through “impersonal memories” that trigger personal responses (since they weren't there during the previous dinners, so it's like a forced memory: we actually don't feel affected but we try to empathize or to relate to the latter).

Planning (in four weeks)

Week 1 & 2:

-Series of tasks including: construction, prototyping, testing and experimenting through smaller diners and set-ups. Finalizing and usable “table”.

Week 3:

-Scouting the city, preparing the diner, sending out the invitation, have our first dinner and process information.

Week 4:

-Troubleshooting, processing information, and prepare our presentation dinner.

Tasking and roles

Social Task:

Scout the city to find areas and invisible boundaries for potential interesting guests.

Physical:

Building the table, circuits, and preparing an area and food (maybe more than once depending on our hypothesis).

Interactive:

Building a Max environment that is able to store and feedback our sonic elements.

Resources: scroll down the blog to read more about these links

1- The Dinner Project

http://www.thedinnerproject.com/

Invite me to prepare food for you, and personal social dissection.

2- The Table:Childhood*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QavoKfrm1hw (video)

3-Studio Azzurro

http://www.studioazzurro.com/opere/coro/n_qt.htm