Anthropocene 

with Catherine Rong & Denny Wang

Description

Stepping out of the box to view this human-centric world, we divided the anthropocene into three stages:

• Primitive society, started with camp fire simulation, shows how human started to establish and manipulate.

• Tech acceleration, with cyberpunk aesthetic and glitches, shows the advancement in the technologies we understand now.

• Post anthropocene, with some shadows projected, shows how it feels like something's about to be born but we can't see what it is yet.

With this narrative, we were exploring how to manipulate the color, motion and composition in LED strips. We selected white acrylic as the primary material for its ability to diffuse light and glow with soft opacity in dim environments. The cube shape reinforces both the conceptual framework and the sense of space and simplicity we aimed to experiment with the light in.

Notes

• Color choices can be more considerate. 

I really agree with the feedback from May that we don't need so many colors and changes to showcase the theme. The stages will be clearer with limited colors. Was interesting practice tho.

• If the "monster" at the third stage could be more obvious, the composition would be more dramatic. 

Material-wise, should use more solid materials than thin yarns. Coding-wise, instead of gradual transition where the inner layer and the outer layer both work, a sudden shift to kick off the third stage with only the inner layer lighting up would do better.

Appendix