This is an Image of the Sclera Pavilion, Adjaye Associates Image credit is Leonardo Finotti

BLOGS

Moving to Mars
The Design Museum
January 2020

A VI participant peers into a model of a space rocket designed to take people to Mars

Image: A VI participant peers into a model of a space rocket | Image credit: Eve Milner.

Moving to Mars is an immersive exhibition transporting visitors to another planet. Exploring themes of sustainability, survival and space travel, the exhibition envisions our journey to Mars and questions our right to settle there.

This Multisensory tour explored the ways design can negotiate our relationship with our environment and the 200 exhibits on display are split into sections which mainly deal with our history with Mars, voyaging to and surviving on it and our future relationship with it.

On this tour, we focused on Imagining life on Mars, had an experience of Mars by stepping into a spatial dimension of Mars while walking on a surface that mimicked parts of Mars, explored the voyage to Mars, and the ways we can live and work on Mars.

VI participants at the entrance to the Moving to Mars exhibition. This is a monochrome image with the silhouette of several VI's

Image: At the entrance of the Moving to Mars exhibition, with the image of Mars illuminated to the right | Image credit: Eve Milner.

So, I guess the question we ask ourselves is, why Mars? Let’s take a moment to think about this.

Quote: The Ultimate designed life.

Mars is not meant for humans, yet we desperately want to go there. Mars is a freezing, dry barren desert and high UV environment which has almost no oxygen. It is constantly bombarded by cosmic radiation which reaches the surface. It also does not have any water on the surface, so how are we really supposed to live and survive on this extremely arid environment?

Yet is has been said that, if successful, this will be the ultimate designed life.

There is the suggestion that the experience of space exploration of Mars may provide us with solutions to some of earth’s problems. And the continued damage to earth’s environment by climate change caused by global warming, and the risk of cosmic collisions by Asteroids, Comets and meteorites are among the reasons space exploration is been legislated by scientists.

But should we invest the resources required to make Mars habitable, when we struggle to protect the future of earth?

Read the full blog at www.mamomiinitiative.com

Tags: #MovingToMars #MultisensoryTour

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition
The Design Museum
September 2019

One point perspective corridor at the entrance to the exhibition. Image by Ed Reeve

Image: At the entrance to the Stanley Kubrick exhibition, showing the one point perspective as you walk into the space | Image credit: The Design Museum

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, tells the story of one of the greatest film-makers of the 20th century, exploring his unique command of the creative design process of film making, from storyteller to editor to director.

The Exhibition

On the 20th anniversary of his death, this exhibition at the Design Museum explores Kubrick’s extraordinary career and his unique creative process.

This exhibition reveals a unique insight into the work and methods of Kubrick’s vast archive, focusing on the design stories behind his iconic films; from his work with set-designers such as Ken Adams to his collaborations with composers and cinematographers.

This multisensory tour explored Kubrick’s films and focused on Spartacus, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The access tour concluded with discussions on some of Kubrick’s soundtracks and the influence music had on his films’ narratives.

Read the blog at www.mamomiinitiative.com

#stanleykubrick

Sensory Associations
Tate Modern
September 2019

2 participants can be seen watching a video on a 60 inch large screen TV while listening to the juxtaposition of sounds using the SubPac, which interprets sound into a tactile experience

Image: Participants watching the sensory associations video installation at Tate Exchange, Tate Modern.

Sensory Associations is a multisensory, participatory and collaborative exploration of our senses in space and time, and developed by multisensory artist and design enthusiast Andrew Mashigo, of MaMoMi.

This iteration, exploring the audiovisual perception, was installed at Tate Exchange from the 1st to the 3rd of September as part of the Inside Job exhibition at Tate Modern.

Based on an investigative approach to our senses in space and time, this immersive project explores how we observe and respond to our immediate environment.

Using a video compilation juxtaposed with recurring sounds of deliberately selected and edited tracks, it confronts and challenges the way we interpret the audiovisual perception. The response is a dialogue that opens up and initiates a new set of conversations and feedback, both artistically and cognitively.

Some feedback:

“An interesting take on the connections between the senses. The combination of natural, animalistic sounds with industrial imagery created an inquisitive reflection and emotive response.“

“Really great. You hear something very different from what you see. Interesting regarding the perception of the world challenged by this sensory animation.”

“This is the best thing about this exhibition. I love that it is interactive and you notice all the good and bad things that happen on the screen. I love sensory associations!”

“Wonderful combination of sight, sound and physical stimulation. The great thing about the technology is that you can experience the “body rush” normally associated with high volume sound without the impact on one’s ears. Thank you!”

“I love how the sound changes my perception of the images. The SubPac gives a really nice massage and enhanced my experience!”

“A fascinating way to represent different sensory perceptions. Challenging with all senses mixed up. Well done and thank you for sharing the experience!“

Credits:

Andrew Mashigo – Multisensory Artist
SubPac – Wearable technology unit
Miles-Andrew Mashigo – Video editor/Producer

Contacts:

https://mamomiinitiative.wordpress.com/2019/09/17/sensory-associations

https://subpac.com/category/bass-chronicles

#sensoryassociations #immersive #sensory #tactilesound #subpac

David Adjaye: Making Memory
The Design Museum
March 2019

This is an Image of the Sclera Pavilion by Adjaye Associates. Image credit is Leonardo Finotti

Image: Entrance to the Making Memory exhibition.

This exhibition helps us discover the work of celebrated architect Sir David Adjaye (OBE), with the tour focusing on his use of story-telling to create unique monuments and memorials, from the Smithsonian Natural Museum of African American History, to the Sclera pavilion.

Adjaye’s landmark structures in this exhibition explore the design, role and use of contemporary monuments. These monuments and memorials show how he uses architecture and form to reflect on history, memory and record human lives, answering questions of how buildings can shape our perception of events – past, present and future. Visitor’s will experience the storytelling power of architecture through an exploration of seven monumental projects.

The exhibition also uses soundscapes for each display, in response to the narrative and context of each display. The tracks for the soundscape were written by Peter Adjaye, David’s DJ brother. This soundscape, including the use of dark grey colours on the wall in the first 5 rooms, gives the overall display an immersive and emotive feel, something a few in our VI audience were quick to mention.

Read this and our other blogs in our WordPress page here.

Tags: #access #multisensory #experience