What's in the Box?

This piece was made for 62-150: Introduction to Media Synthesis and Analysis, as the Module 4 (Environments and Empathy) project. The group includes Rie Ohta and Jacqueline Peng.

We used the concept of the nihilistic and narcissistic eye from the Eyes of the Skin, applying the idea that vision tends to overtake all the other senses, but other senses can give you more information or conflict with what vision tells you.

We also used the idea that a heterotopia is a physical representation of a utopia, but also combining with the idea of crisis heterotopias, as discussed by Michel Foucault. Additionally, we’re using a digital method to have the audience experience something that could seem real, giving off the sense of “otherness.”

With regards to empathy, we juxtaposed two different kinds of emotions, and users could experience a variety of different emotions. On one hand, users were seeing the inside of the box through a screen. The inside of the box exudes a child-like innocence and idyllic feeling that are emphasized by the use of craft paper and fairy lights. However, users were experiencing the negative social cues of the outside of the box and the music coming from the box in person. A user can trust the tranquil picture of the inside of the box, the ominous outside of the box, or neither. What the user decides to empathize with depends on their background and opinions. 

Process of making the interior with cardstock (above)

Completed interior (below)

Set up of the interior with lights and 360 camera (above)

Flat 360 photo (below)

Completed exterior of the box (above)

Screen recording of 360 photo view (below)

In the final presentation of this installation, we also had a speaker inside the box that was playing creepy music from the album The Dark Cave, Vol. 1.

Below is a photo of someone looking at the 360 photo through a phone, while the box is next to the user.