Critical Practices DES INV 190
The Process
Figuring out how to house a social experiment was a challenge given our limited time and resources. We opted to out of constructing a heavy immobile wooden casing, in favor of a light-weight solution using PVC piping and shower curtains from Ikea. From then, we fabricated the items of importance, the bowls, keychains, and designs.
We had an issue with both lasercutting and 3D printing.
The initial 3D print created a solid semi-circle instead of a hollow bowl. So we had to remake and redesign the bowls.
Likewise, the keychains were taking far too long during their first engraving so we had to scale down the sizing of the keychains for the sake of the project to be expedited in exchange for slightly less legible font. In the end, the bit.ly link was not visible, but we tried to promote the bit.ly to the participants on our own.
2 Printed 11x13" Simple instructional posters to guide passerbys.
A bit.ly created to allow the participants to recollect their participation – now defunct.
Illustration to make the booth seem more friendly despite it's construction.
The Implementation / Outcome
Our project was a crazy success, at least by measurement of crowd it accumulated in the short 3 hours we held it on the last day of classes. We had a number of individuals comment on how they wished they had known about this before hand in a Facebook event or some public invitation because they think it's an exciting idea to meet someone new. We had a few people return to experiment with the project. We had a couple of pairings stay in the project for over the course of almost an hour. Some people found it difficult to connect at first but eventually opened up to their pairing.
Takeaways:
Publicize ahead of time
Develop a more stable, efficient structure to transport
Seek a better time of day (experiment took place around 3-6pm on the last day of school, meaning less populous)
Laser cut the key-chains with smaller size, but larger font
13x19" print posters on hardstock poster paper
Laser engraved & cut keychains on 1/4" acrylic
3-D Printed bowls designed in Autodesk Fusion by Yuni
Results & Participants
“I feel like love and affection matter a lot because even research shows that the connections you build with people give you a lot of happiness. Unhealthy relationships have really affected me a lot – the course of my actions, what I’ve gone through and so I really value the connections I make healthy relationships I am surrounded by. I approach the world: you can make the world a better place by having healthy relationships.”
![“Some of the questions hit really personal issues, but I think having that privacy [made it easier]. But then again, having these conversations, contact’s kind of a big thing and i was nodding while listening but I couldn’t make them see that affirm…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54e8580de4b0ed74440d14af/1490302872041-Q249RI1B2N1RERBXMJP8/image-asset.jpeg)
“Some of the questions hit really personal issues, but I think having that privacy [made it easier]. But then again, having these conversations, contact’s kind of a big thing and i was nodding while listening but I couldn’t make them see that affirmation I was actually listening.”
“I think I would regret not telling people of my dreams and passions of actually going into work in television.”
“I am very close to my parents. If they died tomorrow, I wouldn’t want them to know I’m sad. I’d probably just give them a lot of Thank Yous.”
“My definition of connection is giving intentional effort to be there for someone and be reliable whether or not it is mutual. ”
“My happiest childhood memory is playing basketball after school with my friends because it brought me out of my shell; it made me feel accepted, like I belonged somewhere.”
“ I like the idea of having a lot of friends, but I feel like it’s really difficult to have a lot of meaningful relationship because that takes time and you need to keep up with those relationships. There physically aren’t enough hours. Ideally, I would like to have a lot of friends so you have different people to talk to and get different perspectives.”
![“My little brother and I have had a good relationship for like five years now. When you live with someone like your sibling, you get to know them really well and you connect with them on a bunch of stuff, [like parents, and drama].”](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54e8580de4b0ed74440d14af/1490303051220-BZGY4W96CXJ8H11C4LUC/image-asset.jpeg)
“My little brother and I have had a good relationship for like five years now. When you live with someone like your sibling, you get to know them really well and you connect with them on a bunch of stuff, [like parents, and drama].”
“ I really loved the idea: It was really neat to just interact, have a conversation with a stranger. I feel like this is something I’ve seen on those Facebook social experiments. Definitely would do it again, I thought it was cool.”
“ I think there’s a big stigma attached to it, that if you talk to a random person that it’s a bad thing. I think it’s nice to get away from the physical aspect of it just to see that we’re all humans in the end.”
“ I mean my family’s like pretty close- I’m an only child so I feel like I’m closer to my parents than normal people, I guess. I was also born in China and then I moved over to Sonoma County, so I spent a lot of my childhood in the countryside. I literally grew up with redwood trees, redwood forests. I actually learned how to ride a bike in a acre no one else knew about. Super cool, I feel like I had a really amazing childhood.”
“It’s kind of interesting cause the school’s so big, so even if you don’t know someone at least you get to know that you shared some sort of moment in their life.”
“It was interesting: it was almost easier to talk when you don’t see someone. It’s like talking to a blank wall.”
“Connection to me is how willing someone is to be vulnerable in front of you. ”
“ I wish I could be a little kid again, so I could really enjoy my youth. It’s so true when older people tell you to enjoy your youth.”
“Connecting is all about being vulnerable with someone else and as long as it goes both ways, it can be easy. It’s awesome when you can make a connection with someone because they can last forever.”