Prototype 1

The concept and form of the Final Output

Before starting to explore the material forms of inner monologue, I came up with a personal interpretation of the term “inner monologue” to keep my project grounded. I define inner monologue as an honest reflection and response to physical and emotional stimuli. It paints a picture in various media in different people’s minds, including words, images, motions, and untranslatable feelings. It is complex, chaotic, yet meaningful.

As a multilingual speaker, I’m more sensitive to the limitations of languages to express ourselves. Spoken languages and sign languages are our medium to convey feelings, but translation is always a reductive process where meanings are lost. Each person’s inner voice is so personal and unique, therefore I don’t want to try translating them in a universal and reductive manner. Instead, I want to address the specific question: how can I create an actual form to visualize the beauty of complexity within our inner monologue?

The purpose for this project is to visually represent the beauty of complexity within our inner voice, at the same time showcase the reductive quality in the process of projecting our inner voice to the physical world. It’s not a direct representation, but a poetic and intuitive interpretation. I’m inspired by the precedents that attempt to visualize their inner voice expressively, mainly through painting. The most notable one is Wassily Kandinsky’s composition. The composition of his paintings are abstract shapes and lines, but feels dynamic, and sensual. It’s both reductive and additive. Just like how he wrote about the compositions: “form itself, even if completely abstract...has its own inner sound.

I decided to push my prototype “Shadow as reflective” on Day 4 (link to 7-in-7) further into an audio-visual installation. The interactive part would continue Day 1’s prototype that uses motion sensors to control the audio. When the audience moves closer to the physical sculpture, the soundscape would be more chaotic. The volume would gradually reduce to silence when the audience moved closer to the shadow with a sharp contour project projected on the wall. The physical sculpture would be the same size as a human’s height from head to chest. The physical sculpture would be constructed by steel wire because it is very plyable and also resonates with the form in my prototype 7 to convey the beauty of complexity. From the sides, the audience would see a pure mess of chaos, but when they stand in the middle, they would be able to see it as a shape of a human silhouette, which corresponds to the shape of contour on the wall. The location of the installation would be in a quiet and dim room. This work does not have a defined group of audience, as it conveys something universal in human beings.

To test the form, I would let my friends who had no knowledge about my project interact with the physical form of prototype 1, and give me feedback on how they feel about it before deciding my future iteration.

Materials:

steel wire
Maybe colored wool around the steel wire

Project Concept in 3D Model

Storyboard Sketches

Storyboard in Words:

Might be a bit confused at the first place - walk into the space - move closer to the sculpture, hear the chaotic audio - move forward and getting closer to the projection, audio disappear - walk around, seeing it in different angles - contemplating