Assignment 5: Final Project Proposals


Group Proposal Due: Monday, March 27

Overview

Our class will create inflatable environments for an evening event held in collaboration with the Tuba Ensemble, and the Animation course. Our environments will create the spatial experience of the event. Our class will be divided into five teams and each team will create an inflatable spatial experience for the audience. This can be a structure, a sculpture, or a collection of sculptures to create the space.  The concert event will take place at WQED. Each team will have a portion of space there to utilize. We will also need to conceptualize how the structures-environments-settings will work together in the space. Your group is to create a proposal of an idea to present to the class.

Theme

The theme for this final project is Landscape. A landscape is a space that you can visually and spacial traverse. Think about this theme expansively. A landscape does not need to look like a typical landscape: it can be abstract, it could be from outer-space, it could simply imply landscape because of having a tunnel people walk through or a harbor people can walk into, it can look like a garden, or something completely different. It will be up to your team to decide what makes your design a landscape.

Elements of your proposal:

  1. Organized Google Folder of all drawings, sketches, any research, brainstorming, and notes from your team meetings. Take turns being a note-taker at all of your team meetings.
  2. Drawn (by-hand and/or on computer) images of proposed sculpture/environment.
  3. Written description of idea and concept (1-3 paragraphs).
  4. Birds-eye-view drawing of where fans, outlets, audience, and environmental elements will be located (even if these are guesses).
  5. Estimate of materials and how much of those materials will be needed.
  6. Identify what you think will be the most challenging part of your idea and thoughts about how you would approach it.

*** SPECIAL NOTE: I suggest that you draw up your ideal version of your project (even if you have no idea if it possible to make) and also draw up the version you could start making tomorrow and feel very confident it is possible. I (Olivia) can then help your idea “meet in the middle” between the two.

When brainstorming the design for the spatial experience, keep the following in mind:

  • The environment should be wheelchair accessible
  • Many people will circulate through the entire space during the event.
  • The Animators will create projections to compliment and animate the spaces you create.
  • Each team will have 75 yards of white fabric and access to some black fabric (the amount is dependent upon how much each team needs.
  • The footprint of your inflatable needs to be no larger than 10ft x 10ft. It can bee as tall as the ceiling in WQED. It can spill over beyond 10ft x 10ft, but the actual floor contact surface must be no larger than 10x10d.

Some questions to think about:

  • How should people to flow through the space?
  • How will people enter and exit?
  • What is the overall feeling you imagine for the event? Does it change over time?
  • What would you like people to see as they are looking up when lying down or lounging?
  • What is the inspiration or theme you are working with?
  • Where will the fans go?
  • What is a minimal sculptural gesture to alter the space?
  • What is a maximal sculptural gesture to alter the space?

Proposal

  • Upload your proposal to the class website, with the category Final Project Proposals


Assessment

Points for this project will be divided amongst the following criteria:

ORGANIZATION: The project proposal is well-organized and communicates the ideas and designs to the class. The proposal demonstrates the team’s careful consideration of the multiple elements of the event.

EXPERIMENTATION/ RISK-TAKING/ INVENTIVENESS: The maker’s willingness to take risks (in composition, formal choices, materials, ideas, and content) is evident. Also important is the maker’s openness to new ideas, chance occurrences, and feedback throughout the creative process.

COLLABORATION: The maker is an active collaborator in the project throughout the process. This includes, but is not limited to: responsive and open communication with collaborators, sharing in the tasks related to the project, actively listening and open to the ideas of their collaborator, contributes ideas to be considered for the project, open to suggestions, and follows through with what they have said they would do.