Otherworldly Experience
Posted: February 8, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Pressure Project, Pressure Project 2 Leave a comment »This room is one of the first rooms I experienced. It is immediately after the room that Rick rolls guests and allows them to mess with other guests throughout the facility. It is a dimly lit room with three ominous human sized capsules. They all surround a giant sphere suspended in the air with what looks like wires from each of the capsules leading into it.
The capsules are really eye catching so many guests that entered the room immediately walked into them to check it out. Then they hear a noise in the pod and can see the side light up. This prompted nearly all of them to go looking for other people nearby to fill the other two pods to see what may happen. Once three people are standing in the pods They begin to flash black and white as well as the lights leading to the orb. At the same time a noise that sounds like static electricity is whirling around the room. Finally, the room goes dark and all is quiet then the guests standing in the pods are sprayed with gusts of air. Caught off guard, the guests let out a scream or flee from the container.
There is not much I would want to redesign with how the system is able to capture people’s attention and clearly convey what needs to be done to activate. So, what I would add would be some sort of fog like effect that is also ejected with the puff of air as well as maybe tone down the air pressure, but keep it spraying for longer. This would hopefully make it a bit less of a jump scare and make it seem cooler when the guest leaves the pod.
PP2: Audio storytelling/Wall Fall
Posted: October 24, 2022 Filed under: Pressure Project 2, Tamryn McDermott | Tags: audio, Pressure Project 2, storytelling Leave a comment »I chose to focus only on the audio for this pressure project. In hindsight, after viewing/listening to the other projects, I wonder if having an image of the Berlin wall surrounding us in the motion lab on the white scrims would have been helpful to site the work so there wasn’t a period of guessing for listeners.
My initial goal was to immerse the listener in the experience of the sound of construction and destruction of the Berlin wall. Having grown up in Germany during this point in history, I have a personal experience with this site and my traveling to and from the site by train was a part of it. That part of the story was lost in my layering process. I think that if I were to do this project again, I would pull back and focus in more on some of the powerful moments. Letting them sit with the listener more and not overwhelm them with so much information that is hard to unpack, especially if one is trying to figure out what the story is about.
I appreciated the feedback and want to think more about how we can tell personal stories that also convey meaning for others, for them to find their own way into the story and a connection to it as well.
In my other work outside of this class, I am struggling to translate from text into audio in a non-linear fashion and provide space for a participant in the work to find both their own entry point and way of navigating the space. Also as a way of connecting with the researcher. Thinking about presenting research as a relational experience. How do I challenge the linear and impersonal format of a dissertation, book, or academic text in a way that provides a valuable alternative experience of the story? I have been using a map as one form to explore, but that is also limiting and has boundaries and borders. I am also thinking about the relationship between printed, read text and verbal, spoken word. Preparing this pressure project helped me think about presenting my own process/experience in a way that is not too overwhelming and has some clarity for those participating in engaging with it. This is an ongoing struggle in my process.