small.
I had two ideas for my Project for this class, ideally however my goal in this class was to omit technology (programming) as much as possible which took out one of my ideas almost instantly (goodbye processing!)
My goal for this semester is to create an installation piece using minimal technology which is intensely personal. When I moved to New York it was instantly obvious to me the change in cultural priorities in appearance, especially for women. I also found myself spending time with many women who struggled with eating disorders. As a result I spent the first few weeks I was in New York volunteering in a clinic here supporting young women fighting the disease* with a goal of better understanding the undertones in our culture.
I also listen a lot. I heard a lot of stories, I heard a lot about what they felt every time they tried to eat, even when it was, literally, to survive.. "I'm too fat" , "I don't deserve this [food]", "you are never good enough"
I heard about how the disease consumed their lives and its haunted me ever since. It reminded me of my own experience with the disease.
As a result of that experience, I am really interested in trying to attempt the experience of the disease for people who are not struggling. Inspired somewhat by Todd's Catcher in the Rye Project, I want to record patients stories or tape patients 'inner' dialogues into an audio format.
recording from current people with eating disorders saying things like:
"youre too fat"
"youre never going to be good enough"
or maybe even just their personal stories and struggles
This audio 'soundtrack' will then be played (not sure on format or how because I've never worked with audio) which will loop and so when a user comes up to the installation they may walk up and start listening half way into a story, or simply a repeating phrase "you are fat, you are fat, you are fat."
On the table next to the ear phones will be cakes/cupcakes of sorts (think the birthday cakes you had as a child with colored frosting) there will be no silveware present or plates, hopefully suggesting to the user the feeling of what an anorexic experiences "having the cake, but not eating it too"?
cake(s) will have words like
"purge"
"starve"
"too fat"
"eat us alive"
Transversely places on the wall across from the cakes (maybe in a hallway) will be carnival 'fat' mirrors, giving the users the appearance of a fatter self, depending on how they view themselves in the mirrors. Would this be too literal?
5 milestones:
Feb 1: have researched and ordered carnival mirrors, have completely learned audio program (suggestion?), and found patients to record, order cake making supplies and research installation options (tables, sites, lighting)
Feb 22: have patient recordings completed (unedited), learn to bake birthday style cakes and make frosting writing test, start editing patient recordings with editing software
March 8: test mirrors with test cakes figure out spacing for the right effect, get feedback in class on layout and have audio imputed into audio program and be finishing final edits to audio, find out about uploading options to repeat and play loops etc etc
March 29: beta stage
April 19: completed and installed (installation suggestions?) yeah!
* As quoted from the Mayo Clinic:
Ironically, as concerns grow over the rise in obesity, some people are intent on becoming too thin, sometimes to the point of self-starvation. People with the eating disorder anorexia are obsessed with food and being thin. They don't maintain a body weight that's normal for their age and height. Indeed, they may be skeletally thin but still think they're fat. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia may starve themselves, purge via vomiting, laxitives or exercising excessively.
Comments
GarageBand does audio & if semi-tech-retarded me can figure it out I'm sure you can. Not sure if it's high-tech enough for you (quality issues), but the degradation might be a cool effect.
Posted by: jen | January 19, 2007 11:47 PM