Process

Initially, we wanted to make a wire frame outline of road, and demonstrate progression by having lights travel down the road. However, this seemed too simplistic in nature, as it was very literal in its description of progression. There was very little abstraction to keep the viewer interested. Also, it did not offer any interaction between the art and the viewer. As a result, we quickly abandoned this idea. However, we did keep the idea of hanging wires on the wall. 

In order to abstract progression and introduce viewer participation, we settled on the idea of a tree. In particular, we found that a Y - fractal tree demonstrated the consequences of choices very clearly- moving up from the root of the tree to it's branches was a clear metaphor for choice. 

We wanted to use buttons to involve the participants. Our big design challenge was to decide what placement we wanted to put the buttons. Initially, we wanted each split in the tree to be a button. That way, every split represented a different decision. However, the buttons were all congregated really close together in the center, and the whole tree looked very unbalanced. 

We ended up deciding on placing one button in the center and the remaining buttons on the ends of the branches. This way, the buttons would be balanced around the whole tree and not be so squished together. Additionally, this limited the amount of wires we needed to cut and manage because branch ends served as easy start and ends for wires anyways. 

Another decision we debated about was what type of button we wanted- push on/off, or toggle on/off. Push buttons required the participant to hold down the button, while toggle buttons only required the participant to hit the button once to turn it on. We felt that push buttons forced collaboration more easily than toggle buttons did because push buttons required the action of the participant all the time. This fit with our theme much closer. 

Finally, we had to choose a location to set up our installation. We wanted to place our tree in a place of high traffic to have the possibility of attracting the most people. As a result, we chose a wall in the first floor of Hunt. 

Delegation:

Stephen: test the button switches,  prepare the battery group

Tian: prepare the materials,  wire and decorate the switches

Together: plan out the prototype of the tree, wire the branches and ground all branches