You and Me
Materials: Arduino, Music Maker MP3 Shield, LED, Potentiometer, Headphone, MDF
“This is not us. We are not like this.”
Perhaps the most striking result of refugee crises is the loss, not simply the physical infrastructure of a dwelling, but the sense of dignity, identity and belonging that many of us take for granted. Even though many of them have fought hard to pursue a future in the host communities, most of them end up with exploitation, arrest or detention, living a hopeless life because of the massive negative voices about them such as refugee, migrant, and even terrorist.
An interactive sound installation tells stories of the displaced people living as original citizens in their homelands and as refugees in host countries at the same time through the left and right side of a headphone respectively, creating an information experience to reveal the displaced people’s original characters and put the public in their shoes, in the hope that more people can understand that the displaced are more human beings just like you and me and deserve opportunities for a new start.
For the default settings, the sound volume of the present life is much louder and the past side is much smaller, creating a feeling of imbalance in listener’s body to indicate the massive one-sided labels the displaced people are bearing. Twisting the knob on the box can change the volumes, allowing listeners’ to approach the displaced’s lives in the past. Meanwhile, the LED will be lighting up, as if the displaced pick up identity and confidence and try to move on. However, the volumes will be reset to the default after 30 secs. This suddenly uncontrolled pull-back reflects on the reality and places the audience in the same helpless situation that the displaced people are struggling with.
A school project for the course ‘Design for Social Change’.
Killen, 2018. I don't claim to know what it's like to live as a refugee, but in Moria I would lose my sanity.
OXFAM. How does it feel to be a refugee? Hear their words.
Simon, 2015. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘refugee’?
One of the tracks
Full research and design process
Materials: Arduino, Music Maker MP3 Shield, LED, Potentiometer, Headphone, MDF
“This is not us. We are not like this.”
Perhaps the most striking result of refugee crises is the loss, not simply the physical infrastructure of a dwelling, but the sense of dignity, identity and belonging that many of us take for granted. Even though many of them have fought hard to pursue a future in the host communities, most of them end up with exploitation, arrest or detention, living a hopeless life because of the massive negative voices about them such as refugee, migrant, and even terrorist.
An interactive sound installation tells stories of the displaced people living as original citizens in their homelands and as refugees in host countries at the same time through the left and right side of a headphone respectively, creating an information experience to reveal the displaced people’s original characters and put the public in their shoes, in the hope that more people can understand that the displaced are more human beings just like you and me and deserve opportunities for a new start.
For the default settings, the sound volume of the present life is much louder and the past side is much smaller, creating a feeling of imbalance in listener’s body to indicate the massive one-sided labels the displaced people are bearing. Twisting the knob on the box can change the volumes, allowing listeners’ to approach the displaced’s lives in the past. Meanwhile, the LED will be lighting up, as if the displaced pick up identity and confidence and try to move on. However, the volumes will be reset to the default after 30 secs. This suddenly uncontrolled pull-back reflects on the reality and places the audience in the same helpless situation that the displaced people are struggling with.
A school project for the course ‘Design for Social Change’.
Killen, 2018. I don't claim to know what it's like to live as a refugee, but in Moria I would lose my sanity.
OXFAM. How does it feel to be a refugee? Hear their words.
Simon, 2015. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘refugee’?
One of the tracks
Full research and design process
Always a beginner, always a learner.