Finalising Directions

Looking back at what was done so far, I would say that I have a lot of things still ongoing or in the works. This includes: The vibrational pillow, making tiny sounds with foraged objects, and the Sound Walk. These 3 “experiments” were directions I’m most keen in pursuing, as I can see them coming all together to form a collective experience, informing my research question of getting people to be more in touch with their environments through sound.

My only worry so far is how scattered these 3 directions seem to be; they are all pretty different, but has value in their own way. I can see them being carried on further in semester 2, which is why I’ve decided to include them in my showcase for summative presentations.

Soldering things together

For the vibration motors that I was using in my third experiment, I realised I needed to solder the batteries to the motor itself so that I didn’t have to keep relying on crocodile clips to operate the motors. Especially since I decided to do a performance-based work, I needed the motors to perform for at least a minute so that I could document the proper footage needed.

I’ve soldered before, but using a super thick soldering iron. Thankfully, Carissa had a soldering iron with thinner tips that I could borrow, so I used that to solder both my vibration motors and DC motor to the battery cases. While soldering, I realised that I’m still quite a noob at it - the solder kept falling off, and I found myself putting too much thick slabs of it all at once, resulting in a messy job. I will aim to improve myself as I solder more (hopefully in the next semester!)

Planning my Catalogue of Making

For my catalogue of making, I really wanted to do something print-related; as a lot of my work felt more grounded and tangible. Hence, I did a mock-up of mini booklets for each experiment, following a cascaded book layout that reveals each experiment slightly.

After doing the mock up, I then realized that I still needed a digital version; as I was, after all, showing experiments that were present in video form. Oh my, double work, it seems? No biggie, I will find a way to code it too. For my digital catalogue of making, I have decided to keep it simple; making it visual-focused with lesser text.

Documentation!

Always the most painful yet fulfilling part of the project. With 3 directions I wanted to show, I needed to document 2 videos and take pictures of the responses done by the participants from the collective soundwalk. There was a lot to capture and little time left!

Below are the captured results for the 3 directions I decided to take on for the next semester:

(1) Intimate Acoustics

(2) Vibrational Ground

(3) Sound Walk