The larger conclusion is that content design needs to be planned against site limitations at least as equally if not to a greater
In designing content, ultimately the site-specific requirements proved the strongest driver; it is necessary to work to the limitations of the site first, and then the narrative. Certainly as my involvement with the project developed, I moved by necessity from a position of ‘technology first’ design, to that based upon what the site could accommodate and be struck/ installed in a very tight amount of time.
As a designer this was proved an interesting challenge and took me into unexpected areas of design. Physical ‘props’ were designed, but wherever possible I tried to retain the link with light, video and auditory effects. To me the more effective of the elements I designed, were those that engaged most strongly with the narrative and impacted upon the audience.
Those ‘installations’ which took place within the confined space provided by both the armoury and the .. had the greater impact.
There will always be a trade off between creative vision and practicality, although clearly a budget can provide access to solutions, which can circumnavigate the inevitable imbalance.
Technical limitations .. and potential
Having said that the site proved technically 'challenging', the project has also demonstrated, with sufficient planning and budget, how effective both in terms of impact and cost, it can be if deployed carefully.
Small form factor solutions such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi in conjunction with custom scripting and pre-established systems, i.e. PLEX, give rise to opportunities to develop experience design in their own right Alongside these, the possibilities to relay narratives in innovative ways is great.
In the section 'Future Development' I have started to outline the next stages of my research.
This section will expand as my research develops.
I believe that the project added to the production although not to the extent that I had hoped. Limitations imposed by the site itself against available resources, inevitably resulted in compromising creative ideas and their application. But within the scope of the research I have gained invaluable knowledge that will provide the basis to frame future research.
The design 'framework' I used remained largely in the classical tradition of ‘set design’. However the project has demonstrated the opportunity to produce and implement design, which engages an audience in a manner demanding a response and engagement. However the complexity of these solutions is such that they would need to be installed over the duration of the performance, or else require a team of technical designers capable of installing these to the tight deadline required.
Certainly a large-scale performance could reap great rewards from the innovative opportunities which responsive and site-specific solutions offer and the cost would be relatively low.
These solutions need not limit themselves to ‘set design’ – although certainly even within this there is huge potential for them to raise production standards. But also to provide innovative ways of narrative delivery, and a two way interaction with an audience, in a manner which has hitherto been unachievable.
The expansion of the broader technology base will only serve to expand these opportunities; I cite the following as examples of technology and implementation within a narrative and/or performance context, which I will expand upon as I further develop this research strand: OpenFrameworks, Processing, application of Arduino/ RasPi devices.
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University of Sunderland
SR2 7PT
CONTACTS
Email: roger.thomas@sunderland.ac.uk
Phone: +1 (44) 0191 5152114
Copyright: Roger Thomas 2016
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