11.15 Prototype 1

Coming straight from 7 in 7, the goal of Prototype 1 is to have an outline for the final production of the project. We're asked to provide a context, an audience, restate our research question, anticipate audience responses, and storyboard our project.

The research question remains, but slightly modified since the midterm. Instead of instilling agency into a discarded object, which packs certain connotations, the question becomes one of making discarded objects worthy.

As for context and audience, this is the first time these two are addressed. It's important the context be where these discarded objects are found. There should be no framing of expectations as in a gallery setting, just the happenstance occurence of stumbling upon one of these objects in the state that it will eventually be presented. The audience, likewise, is no one in particular, but takes a slight lean towards those who don't currently feel that empathetic attachment for the things they discard.

For the project itself, the storyboards below outline an act of observation. The intent is for these found objects to be broken to some degree, but contrasted with a picture of its former, whole self. The operating idea behind this is the ironic care for the object. By photographing it, and manipulating it, and placing the two together, passersby view this as an act of neglect. Through this neglect, we're asked to care for our objects more.

Lastly, I'd like to tie this concept back to ourselves and how we treat those around us. The way we treat objects precedes and exemplifies the way we treat others as well. As we begin to see flawed objects worthy of protecting, we can begin to also see that in those around us.

In terms of medium, the end result are objects in their found context, with documentation of the reactions from passersby.

1 - The object is photographed, and the photograph is framed.

2 - The object is destroyed, with the photograph of its former self placed alongside it.

3 - The object is repaired with a prosthetic part, with the photograph of its former self placed alongside it.

References

There are a few references that hint at the mood and feeling portrayed by this juxtaposition of before and after photos. The first of such are pictures that show elders holding up photos of their younger selves. The second, are the before and after photographs of WWI veterans posing with and without their facial prosthetics. Really interesting podcast about these facemasks, but I can't recall which. Perhaps 99% Invisible? The last reference is one that was explored in "Last Photo Taken" from 7 in 7. These all capture something that deals with time and memory. By understanding objects as active participants in the same forces that dictate our lives, I hope we're able to better sympathize with them.