‘if you obey all the rules you miss all the fun’
Footscray This was an activity done at the start of the semester where we looked at the idea of play.We wanted to create an action that would occupy public space and activate the pub- lic’s imagination through the idea of games.
Footscray (occupation)
play obstacle
preconceptions
RMIT(installation)
comfort
stare
Installation This was an installation for the home- less project that we did with Ceri in our technology class. This project consisted of us using recycled mate- rials to create a temporary place to stay for a homeless person. Although we were comfortable in the box we slept in other people were not, they often stared however no one stopped to ask us what were doing. So that made us question, were people not comfortable with our installation that is why they stared but comfortable enough to keep on walking?
choice: alternative route
preconceived
idea of site mature adults obstacle comfort
conform
brunswick A: Tram Stop (brunswick town hall) brunswick is a multicultural suburb that has the highest proportion of new arrivals from overseas. it’s DUHD LV UHOHWLYHO\ ëDW DQG LGHDO IRU cyclicing.
Road bl ock
For this project, we installed obsta- cles through a pathway and looked at how the public would react to the change in the environment. We were quite surprised to see that no one moved the objects to be able to go through. everyone conformed to WKH FRQêQHG VSDFH SHRSOH FKDQJHG their habits ny taking an alternative route but did not change the posi- tions of the obstacles. the objects used in the site were cutouts of people that were stuck at different heights on objects that we found on site. we used biins, a straight cone and even stuck a woman upright on the bench
stage  1 )RU WKH êUVW VWDJH ZH placed  the  objects  far  DSDUW 7KH êUVW ELQ is  placed  on  the  far  left  and  the  second  bin  is  placed  halfway  through  the  middle.
stage  2
stage  3
For  the  second  stage,  we  placed  the  objects  a  little  closer  to  each  RWKHU 7KH êUVW ELQ was  brought  in  the  middle  of  the  road  where  the  cutout  man’s  leg  reduced  the  walking  space  consid- erably
)RU WKH WKLUG DQG êQDO stage,  we  placed  the  object  close  together  so  that  the  passer- by  would  not  be  able  to  walk  unless  they  chose  an  alternative  root  or  walked  on  the  road
Engaged with
Engaged with installation installation
Did not engage
Did not Engage with installation with installation
do you see the grey dots in the blocks?
This is a graph showing the people that moved through the obstacle and those that did not. It was interesting to see that there was a higher percentage of peo- ple going through the space compared to amount of people avoiding the space.
Brunswick (road block)
no escape forced, no choice activate public imagination:play sound crowd behaviour Pre-conceived idea: crates
Age:young adults
City (crates in a laneway)
crates in a laneway B: Tattersalls Lane Tattersalls lane is one of the busiest laneways in China town. Situated at the start of China town, it is often used as a shortcut from Lonsdale street to Little Bourke Street.
We wanted to add this idea of play in the lane- way. Tattersalls lane is one of the most busiest laneways in China Town. By installing crates in the laneway we wanted to create an obstacle that would reduce the crowd ëRZ RU IRUFH WKH WKH crowd to follow a spe- FLêF SDWK
We wanted to install the crates in a tetris like manner. As we felt that it would connote the game and people would be more lkely to engage with the installation. We introduced the tetris music in the site to encourage passer-bys to engage with the installation in a more playful manner.
Crates in a laneway This is the conversation had when 3 teenagers jumped the crates
Conversations had with the indian restatant (the crates were in front of their entrance)
Amount  of  crates  Amount of crates used: used  in  trial  1 Tattersalls lane trial 1
Amount  of  crates  Amount of crates used: used  in  trial  2 Tattersalls lane trial 2
we  wanted  to  set  up  an  obstacle  that  forced  people  to  interact  with  the  LQVWDOODWLRQ 7KHUHIRUH IRU WKH êUVW WULDO ZH SODFFHG PLON FUDWHV LQWR WKH laneway  in  a  horizantal  line  to  see  wether  people  would  walk  over  or  move  the  crates  in  order  to  go  through.   we  were  surprised  to  see  that  only  one  group  of  5  moved  the  crates  in  order  to  pass.  therefore  we  decided  to  go  RQ D ELJJHU VFDOH LQVWHDG RI ZH XVHG FUDWHV KRZHYHU HYHQ WKLV WLPH there  was  only  two  groups  of  people  that  did  move  the  crates.
the amount of men and women that went through the laneway Women (7-7.30)
Men (7-7.30)
choice:voluntary
curiosity
play comfort preconceived idea: ma-
age: kids and parents obstacle terial
Fun at the park C: playground Carlton gardens
Conversation had with the kids in the park 1
4
5
2 6 3
Conversation had with the kids in the park
For this project, we put streamers in a park and watched if the kids would interact. The bright colours of the streamers encour- aged the kids to approach and play. We observed them jumping, going underand over, breaking through the obstacles created as they navigated their way through the playground
Children children
Adults adults
Looking at the amount of parents compared to the amount of the kids present in the SOD\JURXQG SDUHQWV DOVR LQWHUDFWHG ZLWK WKH LQVWDOODLRQ DQG VRPWLPHV HYHQ LQëX- enced the kids by telling them not to break the streamers while they were walking through the installation
ref l ections Even after doing all these projects we still ask ourselves, is public space really pub- lic? This semester not only showed us the perks of working and testing our work on site but it also helped us develop a better VHOI FRQêGHQFH Through the exploration of our different projects, we learnt that crowds are more reactive compared to individuals. We also were greatly surprised to see how people conformed to the spaces and obstacles we created and chose the path of least re- sistance while the walk through the obsta- cles. The kids in our last project were the only ones who really reacted and engaged with the installation. They were least con- forming of the different age groups that we tested.
TeChNoLoGy
installation This is among the êUVW SURMHFWV WKDW we did in the tech- nology class. The aim of this installa- tion was to occupy a public space by building a place to stay temporar- ily for a homeless person
Sound walk
IRU WKLV SURMHFW ZH OZDONHG WKURXJKD GHêQHG SDWKZD\ DQG OLVWHQHG WR WKH sounds that surronded us. by tuning everything out and cleasing our mind, we experienced the spaces through our sight and our hearing sense. This was an eye-opening experience as we were able to experience the space in a more intense manner and our hearing sense made up for the sights that were not always visually visible. this project helped us greatly in the under- standing of the use of sound for our second project: using the crates the laneway
brunswick This is the mechanism that we XVHG WR êOP WKH SHRSOH DV WKH passed through the obstacle. We could not use a tripod as it is so easily recognizable, therefore this mechanism was created. It sat on a table opposite the site. This tech- nology was temporary and quite unstable. However by using sticky WDSH WR ê[ WKH ZKROH VWUXFWXUH WR the table it became more stable. This was a tripod made with mini- mal cost nand available materials
crates in a laneway This project required minimal technol- ogy. We used milk crates that we piled one on top of the other. We did not want to secure the crates together because we thought it would be easier for people to interact with the crates if they were able to push it around and pick them up so that they could go through the pathway. Piling the crates one on top of the other proved to be very stable as none of the crates fell GRZQ GXULQJ WKH H[SHULPHQW
fun at the park For this project we once again used a very ba- sic technology. We used streamers and a band of crepe paper and stuck them using sticky tape. By using this inexpensive and fragile technology enabled the kids to be able to inter- act with the installation in a more active manner. They were able to tear down the streamers in order to go through.
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