Week Three, pin & present day, and we’re well on our way with the Morehouse challenge.
WALL Our On The Go glass, though transparent, is fundamentally a wall. Now I didn’t list Wall during week two, but thinking in hindsight our “View Tube” also made use of Wall as object…any kind of limiting surface that partially obscures sight or motion can also act as a structure for focusing attention.
GRAFFITI SURFACE Our wall is also a writing surface. Is this the first project design of the summer proposing a place for analog writing, despite a variety of other inputs. Did I miss anything?
BLACK BOX Even in proposal stage, I’m exciting by this new application of the locked or blacked out box. Like a box of invisible evidence, the remains after a plane crash, the thing beneath the censorship pen – one group proposes hiding media of altercations between black civilians and police officers invisibly in plain sight. Media will only become visible when activated with a personal phone, sliding through a notch on the table. A great, visceral metaphor for personal accountability, and a nod to the people who capture this media with their own personal devices. (Flash forward to the future, this group will eventually construct a literal black box with media playing inside – though during Day 15 presentations, the idea is only percolating.)
The other idea to come from this group, which I’ll describe below in “Memorial,” has elements of a Black Box as well; containing a media story within an enclosed space. However the Lighthouse idea is immersive – you step inside and meditate – whereas this Black Box plays with denial of entry as theatrical communication.
WORDS AS LEGO OBJECTS Small Fry needs to translate the complexities of race to a younger audience than anybody else, so they’re treating identifying words as objects and encouraging children to reshape and construct. Afrovegeterianism will be a thing in these kid’s mouths/hands.
LIVESTREAM If Morehouse students are the focus, what if we could reach out and speak to a Morehouse student volunteer from anywhere in the world? Empower students with the value of their own identity.
MEMORIAL Use replicable structures to mark the physical spaces where police violence has occurred, in a way that memorializes the victim with light and audio. This reminds me of an important part of our On the Go discussion, mentioning the white bicycles that mark spots where cyclists have died in traffic accidents.