Niki Selken
Find Maria Rivera
Find Maria Rivera By Niki Selken
Thesis document submitted in partial fullfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Fine Arts in Design and Technology Parsons, The New School for Design, 2015 Spring 2015 | John Sharp, Barbara Morris Fall 2014 | Melanie Crean, Ethan Silverman Copyright Niki Selken All Rights Reserved
Contents Abstract Concept Research Works Consulted Methodology Artist Statement Bio Special Thanks
Abstract Find Maria Rivera is a narrative, puzzle-based instillation which follows the story of the disappearance of a water witch from Visalia, CA. Situated between Escape The Room games and Participatory Theater, like Punch Drunk’s Sleep No More, Find Maria Rivera explores themes of environmentalism, mythology, and CSI. The piece leverages responsive objects, web experiences and audio to draw in the participant in a mysterious and emerging story experience. The story takes place in the central valley of California with the backdrop of the looming drought and water crisis. As the user enters the instillation they will be presented with a series of clues and puzzles in a CSI investigation room. The participant will explore the physical objects, text, mobile websites, and audio to unravel the mystery.
Concept I am adapting the Rusalka myth of a fallen water bearer to be set in the current day Central Valley of California. The story follows the disappearance of a water witch, Antonia Rivera, from the town of Visalia. Her friends and family set out to find her, but they enlist the player to help them. Some believe she has become a Rusalka because of the strange artifacts and evidence they find while looking for her. The player will search for her and uncover dark truths about what she has become and what has become of the environment and water that they depend on. Antonia’s job as a dowser, a person who helps farmers find groundwater in order to dig groundwells, afforded her a collection of interesting folk objects related to water, weather, and environmental monitoring. As the drought in California worsened more farmers turned to dowsers to find alternate sources of water. (Visser 2014) Antonia’s role as a water bearer expands as the environmental situation decays, but then she disappears. The user will explore a collection of interactive artifacts from Antonia’s personal belongings. The objects will help entrance the user into the mysterious and magical world of the Rusalka.
They will be displayed in a museum installation style. For example, a user might open a drawer and discover that it triggers an eerie song, or they might discover a phone number and call it on their phone to hear a message. This kind of embodied experience of the environment and the objects from a character’s life may help tell another side of the story about Antonia’s disappearance and provide the user clues that will help them uncover the mystery. I am designing with a few constraints. Unlike an escape from the room game, a gallery installation has the user's attention for about 10-15 minutes max. Moreover, there may be one to three people in the installation at a time, so that means that the user should have multiple points of entry into the story and puzzles. I have four points of entry into the story: map, books, drawers, and board of clues. The map color codes those below. The final solution to the mystery of Maria's disappearance lies inside the book safe. However, the user should be able to put together the clues thr oughout the installation to start to piece together the story weather or not they open the safe.
The Timeline I created a timeline for the last day that Maria was seen. 7am: Maria wakes up. 8am: She goes to the St. John’s River Trail - She loses her necklace or pendulum. 10am: She appears at work at the Crystal Barn. 1pm: She orders lunch over the phone from Watsons Veggie Garden and picks it up. 4:30pm: She meets at Garcia Farms for a Dowsing session; the session is paid for by farm conglomerate, Cascade Farms. 6pm: She goes back to the St. John’s River to look for her lost item. After 6pm: She disappears.
The Puzzles I decided to create three game mechanics or puzzles to control the release of information about the story. 1. The player reads a letter on the wall that tells them to find a phone number. 2. Find the phone number to call and listen to a message with clues. 3. Use the voice message to guide the discovery of the Tarot Card clues and the Tumblr to help understand them. 4. Find the combo to the lock on the book safe.
The Letter Dear Reader:
We have tried to find Maria Rivera with no luck. She disappeared somewhere along the St. John’s River Walk in Visalia, CA. We have run out of options and we need your help. I know that something IMPORTANT is inside the New English Dictionary, but I can’t find the access code. If you could find Maria’s secret phone number and call it, I know you could start to uncover the mystery. I have left you all my research and materials in the room. Check the cabinet drawers first. I know she kept her most treasured possessions and secrets in the cabinet. I have not moved anything in that chest. Please remember to put everything back in its drawer that you take it from.
Please hurry. She could be lost or worse . . .
Missing Person Poster The Letter
The Books The Cabinet The Board
The Map
The Exhibition
The Board
6.Feds say many Central Valley farmers will get no water deliveries
8.Missing Person Poster 9.Five myths about California’s drought
10.Rusalka Artworks
7.Mermaid Drawing
11.Non Disclosure A greement Violation Letter from Cascade Farms
1.Community Water Center
2. Kaweah Delta Website
3.CA Reservoirs Status 12.Maria’s Diary Entry 4.Century Later, the ‘Chinatown’ Water Feud Ebbs
5. With Dry Taps and Toilets , California Drought Turns Desperate 13.California Farmers Hire Water Witches as Drought Persists
14.Drawing of Dragon
15.Drowning Woman
The Map
2.Photo of Maria’s Boss
4.Photo of Maria’s Sister
3.Photo of Maria’s Client
1.Missing Person Poster
2.Map of Visalia
6.Maria’s Timeline
5.Photo of Maria
The Cabinet 7. Opera music plays 1. Sand 8. Postcard from Antonia 2. Green geode 9. Image of Rusalka 3. Tarot card (Temperance)+blue rock 10. Holy water 4. Dowsing pendulum 11. Tarot card (The Star) 5. Scrap of paper with phone number + red rock 6. Article on water witches 12. Article on CA drought
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
13. URL to Tumblr 14. Amulet 15. Compass 16. Tarot card (Death) + purple rock 17. Book and candle 18. Image of drowing woman
The Books 1. Treasury of Finnish Love Powems has a page marked with a postcard.
3. Russian Folk Belief is about the Rusalka Myth. It Contains a piece of paper with a phone number. 2. The New English Dictionary is a book safe. A 3 digit code opens it. The contents end the story.
User Path
Experience Map
Research
Environment I want to raise awareness and interest in the drought hitting the Central Valley of California. I have seen first hand the effects and experienced the temperature extremes common to that area. The drought in California has the local farmers scared as large swaths of the farmland are lying fallow. “Since the state produces almost 70 percent of the nation’s top 25 fruit, nut and vegetable crops,” this could be disastrous for the rest of the country. Moreover, the drought and farm closures will cause a loss of 17,000 farm working jobs by the close of 2014. (Washington Post 2014) The water table has nearly collapsed, as the drought and over dependence on deep wells has caused the average elevation of the valley to sink ten feet since 1935. This process of unregulated water consumption in the state is contributing to the salienation of the remaining groundwater, making much of it non-potable. “The worst of the drought is tormenting the Tulare County community 160 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
In East Porterville, drinking water comes from private wells, not public utilities. Of the community’s 7,300 residents, nearly 1,000 are without running water, county officials said.” (CNN 2014) If this trend spreads more and more locals could be without running water in their homes and the rest of the country could face reduction in available fresh food supplies. “With California in the grips of drought, farmers throughout the state are using a mysterious and some say foolhardy tool for locating underground water: dowsers, or water witches.” (Huffington Post 2014) Dowsing is an age old diving practice using copper rods, pendulums, or wooden sticks to find underground water flows. As the water table is sucked dry farmers are turning more and more to water witches to find well water locations.
Mythology
Storytelling
My exploration of water witches led me to the Russian mythology of the Rusalka. The Rusalka is a water spirit who lives in rivers and lakes who brings water to the farmers and their crops, but is also dangerous and sometimes deadly. This myth provides a fertile metaphor for the dangers of over-consuming water resources that on one hand are positive and allow us to grow food, but once crossed, can be disastrous. I want to use this myth as a platform to inform my inquiry and method of expressing these water usage issues.
I have been researching environmental change along with speculative fiction to discover a way to create interest and visibility to the issue of water usage and climate change within California. This look into a rapidly changing climate on the planet led me to study Dystopian Futures which explore climate change. One influence on my thinking is JG Ballard’s novel, The Drowned World. The Drowned World explores earth after a series of solar flares have increased the intensity of the sun’s heat and radiation, where most of the previously habitable areas flooded, tropical jungle or swamps. The story follows the biologist Dr Robert Kerans and his struggles against the devolutionary impulses of the environment. The changing climate gives all the characters strange dreams, which haunt their waking life. I’m inspired by this projection of the future as people become more in tune and connected to the landscape around them. As nature changes the climate in dramatic ways we may be forced to examine our own connectivity and place within the larger ecosystem.
Games I examined my feedback and decided to work on some new visual design concepts that might help frame the user’s experience of the story. I also went back to my inspirational game source and played through a number of Neutral’s Escape The Room Games. I also signed up for a live action escape game, The DaVinci Obsession, with Enigma Rooms. The room was interesting to me because unlike the other room I visited before this one has a plot: “Your client’s grandfather, who is a famous historian notoriously known by his obsession of [sic] Da Vinci’s work, disappeared after leaving a strange letter to your client. In the letter he urges your client to uncover the secret hidden within his gallery office, as someone after the secret will get to it within an hour…” Playing through these “room escape” games, both physical and digital, are giving me the tools to create engaging puzzles for my thesis.
The power of storytelling to express potentially tragic and serious issues, such as a state’s disappearing water resources, is immense. I have researched map based stories, traditional fictions, films, wearables and interactive web experiences.
Works Consulted Ballard, J. G. Drowned World. Doubleday, 1962. Brantley, Ben. “Shakespeare Slept Here, Albeit Fitfully.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/theater/reviews/sleep-no-more-is-a-macbeth-in-a-hotel-review. html?pagewanted=all. “California’s About to Run Out of Water. We Have to Act Now | WIRED.” Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. http://www.wired.com/2015/03/californias-run-wateract-now/. “Chiu Chih’s Survival Kit for the Ever-changing Planet Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine.” Designboom Architecture Design Magazine Chiu Chihs Survival Kit for the Everchanging Planet Comments. Accessed September 17, 2014. http://www.designboom.com/art/chiu-chihs-survival-kit-forthe-ever-changing-planet/.
“Climate Dress by Diffus.” Ecouterre Climate Dress by Diffus Comments. Accessed September 17, 2014. http://www. ecouterre.com/led-equipped-climate-dress-monitors-carbondioxide-in-the-air/pollution-dress-6/. “The Crying Dress.” KOBAKANT. Accessed September 17, 2014. http://www.kobakant.at/?p=222. “Enigma Room Escape NYC.” Enigma Room Escape NYC. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. <http://www.roomenigma.com/#!davinci/ c1t44>. “Five Myths about California’s Drought.” Washington Post. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost. com/opinions/five-myths-about-californias-drought/2014/08/ 29/6a6b8ed4-2c69-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html “Inspiration: Snare-Pictures Assemblages by Daniel Spoerri.” Melanie Biehle. Accessed October 21, 2014. http://www.melaniebiehle.com/2014/07/inspiration-snarepictures-assemblages-daniel-spoerri/
“ISSUU - Digital Publishing Platform for Magazines, Catalogs, and More.” ISSUU - Digital Publishing Platform for Magazines, Catalogs, and More. Accessed April 02, 2015. http://issuu. com/. Martinez, Michael. “California Drought Victims Drink in Grandmother’s Kindness.” CNN. January 01, 1970. Accessed December 02, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/11/us/ california-drought-homes-without-running-water/. “My 417-mile Trip down the ‘endangered’ River.” CNN. Accessed November 16, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/09/opinion/endangered-river-ctl/. “Neutral’s Room Escape Games.” Neutral’s Room Escape Games. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. http://neutralxe.net/esc/index. html.
“Regional Climate Trends and Scenarios for the U.S. National Climate Assessment. Part 5. Climate of the Southwest U.S.” Home. Accessed September 17, 2014. http://scenarios.globalchange. gov/report/regional-climate-trends-and-scenarios-us-nationalclimate-assessment-part-5-climate-southwest. Simonov, Pyotr. Essential Russian Mythology. London: Thorsons, 1997. Visser, Nick. “California Farmers Hire ‘Water Witches’ To Find Water As Drought Persists.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/02/water-witchescalifornia-drought_n_4885092.html.
Methodology
Prototype One I used the second prototype to explore narrative rather than concept. I created a workshop/user test for my second prototype. I gathered a series of objects and presented them to a group. Each person was given a pen and a notepad. They were asked to explore the objects on the table in front of them and then create a story about the person who they might have belonged to. They were also asked which of the objects told the story of the character most strongly and why. I presented these objects to two different sets of people for a total of 30 people in the user test. I discovered many similarities between the kind of character most people imagined after interacting with the collection of objects. Most people described this character who owned the objects as a woman in her late 20s to 30s. They described her as a traveler and an imaginative person who loves animals and music.
They also had similarity across the objects, which resonated with them to tell the story of the character. This prototype informed my understanding of how a character could be constructed out of the objects that they own. It helped me identify my main character and the world in which she lives, or wished she lived in. I pictured a woman from a hot and dry place, dreaming of water. That is exactly who I ended up creating for my project.
Prototype Two My second prototype focused on building a narrative frame for the story I want to tell. I created a museum wall style story layout. I presented this to various critics and student groups in my thesis class and got feedback on the narrative. The images of the narrative handouts are pictured below. Primarily I used this prototype to inform my fourth prototype, a proof of concept, which will be the final one I make for the semester.
Prototype Three By synthesizing the lessons from all prototypes I made the choice to focus on creating a dynamic, interactive narrative as my primary task for the end of the semester. I am focusing on my strengths and creating a story with a game style branching narrative and then placing that story in the framework of a website and map. I will simultaneously work on creating the artifacts of Antoniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, but that is not the deliverable for the next prototype. Much of the feedback I received focused on people wanting a compelling (and finished) narrative. Now that I have that base story, I am focusing on how to best tell it. The third prototype consisted of a quiz, map, and object that users could interact with. They all helped guide the user into the world of the story.
User Testing I used the second prototype to explore narrative rather I conducted five user tests for my thesis project, A Prayer for Rain. The tests focused on my fourth prototype, which is a proof of concept interactive website. The website design was created in InVision and CartoDB. The tests were used to assess the clarity of the narrative, the usability of the website, and the accessibility of the website as a platform for storytelling. I tested five users between the ages of 24-36 with a mix of three men and two women. The most important finding from the user tests was that most people did not connect the drought in to the story I was telling. That seemed to be due to a mix of poor interface design choices and lack of direct tie in to the conditions in California.
My next steps will be to visit Visalia, CA in December to do fact finding, video recording, image collection as well as interviewing locals about this issue. I hope that this process will spark a connection for my narrative to the climate change issue and allow me to bring it to the forefront of the story. I will also make modifications to the design to improve readability and understanding of hot-spots and links within the hypertex. The most positive element of the tests was that the users could understand the narrative and enjoyed the connection between the map and the object to tell the story. So that the form of storytelling I am leveraging is entertaining and engaging.
Play Testing My playtest schedule began with the Playtech weekend event at D12 on April 11th, 2015. I set up my instillation prototype in the PET Lab office and test with younger users. Each user/playtest took approximately 15 minutes, so I aim to test at least six users throughout the day and hopefully more. I encouraged the users to talk aloud as they walk through the installation and also video tape the gameplay. After this test, reviewed the feedback and make changes to the project as needed. Since this is a game focused user base, I imagine that I will be primarily testing the mechanics of the puzzles within the story. My second play test will be the following Friday evening with the New School game club. I will have an older audience of gamers. So this will allow me to go more in depth with the feedback of the game mechanics as well as the design of the piece. I hope to get more narrative focused feedback at this session. The final play test will occur one week after the game club event. I will collect a group of non-game focused local adults to walk through the project. I want to see what an art-savy audience with less game experience will connect with in the work.
Artsist Statement I consider myself a speculative designer and storyteller. I design interactive fictions and games because they allow me to create alternate universes and explore what it would mean if we chose a different path. Much of my creative work has been in search of social change, through education and raising awareness around issues of environmentalism, consumerism, and class. However, unlike the common avenues of activist design, I use a canvas of reused objects, fantastical mythologies, and new media to explore these issues. My favorite tool is my imagination. I believe that imagining realities and stories is what makes my art innovative. I paint with words, objects, and sounds. I see a room as a canvas and the web as a room. My favorite material is a reused object. I like to take something that was meant for one purpose and repurpose it, in service of a story.My favorite technology right now is responsive web. I love the fact that we carry computers in our pockets that can transmit art and media anywhere we are. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking for the connecting points between the physical world and the screen-based world, the liminal spaces where physical meets the intangible.
I was taught to be a theater maker and then I was taught to be a designer. I take the liveness and spontaneity of theater and combine it with the detail and iterative process of design to create hybrid work. The thematic patterns that I notice in my work are around the natural elements and the environment. I have a fascination with water and the way it has shaped everything from our natural world to our constructed cities, to our interpersonal lives. My favorite medium right now is interactive installation and specifically storytelling in multiple spaces. I love repurposing social media spaces, like Tumblr, to tell unforgettable stories. I want to live in a world of concurrent multiple realities so that we can learn how to change our own.
Biography
Niki Selken is a designer, technologist and theater maker living in Brooklyn and attending Parsons for a Design and Technology MFA. Her focus is on wearable technology and interaction design. Before landing in New York Niki lived in San Francisco and founded a web design and IT company Big Treehouse, and an experimental theater company, Ko Labs. She was the 2014 New York NASA Space Apps winner and a global finalist for wearable tech project, Senti8. In 2013 she founded the World Translation Foundation with Cara Rose DeFabio as a way to promote, explore, and translate the written word into the pictorial alphabet of Emoji. Her latest project, The Emoji Dictionary, debuted at The Proof is in the Processor art show and will be featured in the Currents New Media Art Festival 2015 in Santa Fe. Nikiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design work has been featured by VICE, Yahoo Tech, Adafruit, and Make Magazine.
Special Thanks
I want to thank my loving husband, Alan Holt, for all of his support during the development of Find Maria Rivera. I would also like to thank these members of my community at Parsons and beyond for your support and help with this project. John Sharp Barbara Morris Ethan Silverman Nicholas Fortugno Melanie Crean Gabriel Gilder Elizabeth Cernadas Laurel Stark Galit Lurya Morry Galonoy Denah Emerson Liza Stark Ezgi Ucar Jackie Selken Suzie Calzada Cynthia Lawson
Find Maria Rivera By Niki Selken
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