Non-Place: Display

Non-Place is all wrapped up now, feeling pretty good about my work. My work is a response to commuter stress in the train station utalising colour theory, aromatherapy and nostalgic imagery to create a calming atmosphere. I created two animations to be played in Summer and Winter along with a blend of essential oils to create a scent to fill the station and litte cards people can take away with them on their journey with a QR code which will play the animations on their devices. I also included designs for train tickets to be used at the stations.

me looking very proud

we have a very nice smelling coridoor for a while

i swear these QR codes work

Non-Place: Final Animations

My animations for non-place are now done! Basically these colourful animations would be projected in the train station creating something interesting to look at along with my calming scent, the scent can be taken away on a little card onto the train where the animation can also be viewed on YouTube via QR code. so here they are, the animation that would be played in summer evoking memories of the Great British Holiday and the Winter one which is all about snow and snuggling up.

Non-Place: The Final Stretch

Ive been really unwell for about a week so things are feeling a bit tense the now. Not to worry though, getting my animation finished up and all my essential oils have arrived for me to start experimenting and creating my oil blend and the little cards to go with. I was going to project my kaleidoscope in the college but chasing down a projector has been a pain in the arse and since i was gonna do this anyway im putting a QR code on the take away cards which will link to my animation on YouTube, all sorted. This project is a bit of a detour from what ive usually been doing and the sort of thing i want to do for the degree show and i cant quite make my mind up if i like it or not. Anyway here are some kaleidoscope photoshop things I've been making using family photos to evoke nostalgia of summer and winter holidays and good times, Blackpool and Butlins and Halloween and Christmas. I made these with a bit of help from this tutorial from Creative Bloq.

Bit of a pink tint for this one, still thinking about my calming colours

this one is a wee bit more modern, view of snowy gardens from when i was about 10

Non-Place: Animation fun

Okay so i dont have a great deal of expertise in using After Effects, in fact im using a 30 day trial of it to do this project but, ive been trying really hard and created these little test kaleidoscope animations using my family photos, forgive the quality i needed them to upload to YouTube without taking a million years.

 

Non-Place: Childhood Nostalgia

Looking into smell and nostalgia i found this article about the science behind  it all. Apparently research done in Sweden found that when exposed to certain smells people could recall memories from younger ages than people who just heard the names of the smells and people who had the smell along with its name recalled more memories.
Im using this information to create my own blend of essential oil scents along with information from Snoezelen about how aromatherapy oils are used to relax or destress. I want my scent to recall memories for people but if you've ever walked past a candle shop near Christmas you'll know it can go a bit far with the old artificial mulled wine and winter fruits.

Going overboard with the Christmas factor is something i also have to think about with my images. Seeing as i always put myself in my work somewhere i have decided to create a projection which uses photographs from my own childhood mixed together in a kaleidoscope. Its my hope that people will be able to pick out some elements of the photos, some snow or a christmas present (or a beach holidayin the Summer), without seeing the full picture. To recall memories of good times and childhood happiness without plastering a picture of my gurning baby face on a wall.

(my photos)

While i was looking into kaleidoscope style artwork i found someone else turning old photos into patterns. Nicole Crock's Tesselate project turns vintage photographs of people and their homes found in thrift stores into abstract patterns which she also makes into three-dimensional origami shapes, since im looking a bit into 3D mapping, origami stars could be the way to go.

looking at these made me think about using not only photos from my childhood but family photos of holidays and good times going way back before i was born

images from nicolecrock.com

Non-Place: Brian Eno Made Me Do It

After doing some more Snoezelen research i found that the rooms contained projectors showing images on the walls, maybe a forest combined with the sounds of trees. Im now thinking about doing a projection, something ive never done before which is a bit scary.

Brian Eno (yes that Brian Eno) does a lot of projection work and his installation 77million paintings has been projected in Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and even on the Sydney Opera House. I found this really intersting snippet on his website:

Working on evidence that the use of art and music can produce improved psychological, physiological and biological outcomes of clinical significance in patient care, Eno created an eight-piece version of 77 Million Paintings.
On the lower-ground floor, he created a Quiet Room where patients and staff can sit and be immersed in shifting colours and soundscape. As one journalist soberly commented "so you have to be pretty ill to hear this particular piece of music."
Architects IBI Nightingale said: "Creating a healing environment isn’t only about correct surgical procedures and the right technology but also about making an atmosphere where the patients feel able to relax enough to clearly think through their options, and to properly take part in the healing process themselves."
Now other hospitals in England have commissioned Eno to create similar rooms for their spaces and schools are now approaching Eno for quiet areas for their pupils.

 This is exactly the sort of thing i want to do so im glad i looked at his site. Ive done a wee bit of research into other installations and artwork that uses projection, from simple light creating shadows to the complicated but impressive 3D mapping.

Jenny Holzer, projection in San Diego 2007

Interactive sound installation 'Noisy Skeleton' by Theoriz

video projection onto origami by Joanie Lemercier

Non-Place: Light, Colour, Smell and Sound

New Moon by Caitlind r.c Brown & Wayne Garrett

Ive found some really amazing public art from Charles Petillon and Caitlind r.c Brown andWayne Garrett, really visually striking as well as being fun and dreamlike. My original idea was to create a light installation or illuminated sculpture but I've moved on to projection with the possibility of 3D mapping which is pretty exciting.

Heartbeats by Charles Petillon

I got thinking about this idea after my lecturer Paul told me about Snoezelen rooms, therapy rooms which use light, projection and aromatherapy to stimulate but not overwhelm the senses. I want to use the principles of relaxing and calming patients in the Snoezelen rooms in the train station environment to relax or stimulate commuters. 

I have also been looking at scent and art coming together on Odette Toilette's blog, she teamed up with art historian Christina Bradstreet to host a tour through the National Gallery pairing works of art with evocative perfumes which you can read about here.

Non-Place

Now that the pencil is over and done with its time for a new brief already. This one is all about the concept of 'non-place' a term coined by Marc Auge a French anthropologist to describe spaces that are abstract in character, that people travel through and exist only in units of time as people just pass through them unaware.

So with what little information i had i started thinking about non-place and what it is to me and ways i could improve that space.

(image to come)

Ive been thinking a lot about the way colour and light can affect mood as well as smell and how its linked to memory and nostalgia, so, the two main parts of my artwork are going to be colour and smell. Im thinking about my non-place being a train station because it can be a pretty stressful space. People tend to travel further on trains which makes cancellations and lateness that more annoying, i think airports can get away with this a bit more because they are larger spaces with more stuff to keep you distracted. Ive also researched artwork in these spaces, train stations and airports, a lot have really beautiful work inside, not so much where im from.

So my first points to look at are: Light and colour affecting mood, interactive artwork in public spaces and the link between smell and nostalgia.