Conflicts was an collaborative installation designed by Industrial Designer Sam Stowe when we were MFA students at California College of the Arts (CCA) in 2018. An extension of my own project I did on my personal conflicts, Sam and I wanted to create something bigger and interactive. The outcome became a metaphorical interactive piece that examine the numerous conflicts everyone experiences. Conflicts was exhibited as part of the Project Space Takeover #6 of the CCA's exhibitions.
Original Project (before deviation)
Process
After our proposal was accepted, Sam and myself brainstormed ways to make my personal conflict project (as seen as above) more accessible. We decided to simplify the design so it became more about the action of "spinning" the tube to create a metaphorical "conflict."
Our biggest challenge was creating a polished and accessible objects viewers could handle. We ended up using acrylic plastic and laser cut circles (which we later glued to the ends). Dyed blue water and vegetable oil became our visual representation of conflict (water and oil do not blend together).
Another challenge was figuring out how to get the tubes to stay onto our wall mount. We found hot glue and using a washer was the best method to make the tubes both mobile, for the interaction, and overall display.
Final Exhibition
Our conflict exhibition was up for three days and accessible to the public.
Photo by Nino Panes
Photo by Nino Panes
Photo by Nino Panes
Photo by Nino Panes
Photo by Nino Panes
In conclusion, both Sam and I loved collaborating with each other even though we ran into every challenge possible. We consider our installation a success, as well as a prototype for possible future ones but with more advance making.