Week 12
Final Setup & Open Studios
I did more work on elevating elements in my setup, definitely with some help from Janessa. After talking to her about how my setup felt a bit unfinished, she immediately suggested ways to make certain elements on my table feel more intentional.
We used acrylic panels and wooden blocks to elevate the iPad, which helped the setup feel a lot more considered.
Open Studios
Talking to people and getting feedback was honestly quite interesting. Some comments I received (which I take as a pretty big compliment) were that people found the bear “creepy” and that it reminded them of things like FNAF or Black Mirror. To me, that means I did something right, since my intention of creating discomfort actually came through.
I was also surprised that I managed to get some really good conversations out of it. Some people expressed interest in the idea, and one lady said things like “imagine this waiting for you on your bed,” “it would be interesting to explore as a friend,” and “what if it could show emotion like a chatbot?” She also brought up how, if something like this were made for kids, it could potentially affect their development, especially in terms of communication.
Another conversation I had that stuck with me was about the role of these kinds of robots in relation to the elderly. We talked about how robots are already being used in places like Japan to keep elderly people company, and how that actually works in a positive way.
This was interesting to me because while I was presenting the bear more as a children’s toy, where most people felt it could be quite dangerous, this conversation introduced a more utopian perspective of artificial companionship.
Insight & Reflection
One thing I realised is that I wish I had presented my Semester 1 work more prominently. While I didn’t want those earlier explorations to be heavily carried forward or become the focus, I noticed that I kept referring back to them when explaining my process to visitors.
Even though I didn’t continue with those exact ideas, the thinking behind them clearly carried through and influenced how I developed this artefact.
I couldn’t help but think that it might have been nice to present those works as standalone explorations, just to give more context to how I arrived at this final outcome.