"As a year-long project for MA Applied Imagination at Central Saint Martins, Everyday encounter with windows examines institutional window spaces with the potential of being focal points in the metropolis, hence the research question:
How can window spaces be reframed as focal points of urban environments in the age of sensory overload?
Contextually, the concept of city life with its myriad of events is riveting, however the hustle and bustle can be overstimulating, which leads to a higher chance of sensory overload among city dwellers. As window spaces are often used for commercial purposes with high density in cities, they contribute substantially to the growth of sensory overload. While acknowledging that problem, my research also views it as an opportunity to re-imagine those spaces. In other words, imagine walking along Oxford Street and getting tired of the row after row of shop windows, can you see yourself stopping at one window and finally being able to take a deep breath?"
(The textile collage created in an up-cycling workshop at Institute of Contemporary Arts to visualize the issue of sensory overload in city life and a digital collage directly inspired from elements of the textile collage)
In order to arrive at the research question and the project summary as seen above, I went through an iterative learning process by conducting a series of interventions and reflecting on the evidences gained from each of them to develop the next one. The interventions included public installations to invite interactions with passers-by and organized activities (online and in-person) to collect qualitative feedback from participants. In this page, I would like to focus on some selected public installations that challenged me to be confident and take initiative whenever an idea came to mind.
10 - 11 February 2023 - Reflective Frame
Inspired by glass windows, ones of the earliest interventions to test city dwellers’ interaction with windows was to create a paper mockup of a refective window frame. The orginal plan was to hang it on a wall in Coal Drops Yard as seen in the photo above (a shopping and dining complex right outside Central Saint Martins, which is also a part of the King’s Cross area in London). Unfortunately, that fell through, which led to relocating the frame to Gasholder Park as recorded in the video above (also a part of King’s Cross, but not as strictly managed as Coal Drops Yard). The relocation became a happy accident as the reflective mockup resonated with the mirror structure in the park and had a little interaction with the wind.
10 November 2023 - Frame of Mind V1
The intervention placed inside the glass-fronted lift of CSM library was a play on scale and the idea of frame within frame. The intention was to disrupt the short journey of lift users and test whether they would be willing to interact with a tool to hone down their attention. It was difficult to measure that level of disruption as the QR code for a feedback form did not garner any response. Still, the intervention served as a learning curve to understand that a structured format of collecting feedback might not be suitable for public interventions.
The intervention placed inside the glass-fronted lift of CSM library was a play on scale and the idea of frame within frame. The intention was to disrupt the short journey of lift users and test whether they would be willing to interact with a tool to hone down their attention. It was difficult to measure that level of disruption as the QR code for a feedback form did not garner any response. Still, the intervention served as a learning curve to understand that a structured format of collecting feedback might not be suitable for public interventions.
22 November 2023 - Frame of Mind V2
Continuing with the idea of framing, a window frame structure was created out of foam boards and got personalized with a message saying: “To appreciate an open window, you must have one closed..." The quote specifically came from an email exchange with photographer Andy Billman, who documented the bricked-up windows of London in his project Daylight Robbery.
Continuing with the idea of framing, a window frame structure was created out of foam boards and got personalized with a message saying: “To appreciate an open window, you must have one closed..." The quote specifically came from an email exchange with photographer Andy Billman, who documented the bricked-up windows of London in his project Daylight Robbery.
The frame itself was placed outside several vacant windows around Piccadilly Circus in central London to let passersby interact with the message. With this intervention, I questioned: If you were to pass by that, would you notice it?
27 - 28 November 2023 - Breathing Space V2 at Feelium Gallery and Studios
Developing from the message “To appreciate an open window, you must equally have one closed…”, the intervention was an attempt to create a breathing space in the hustle and bustle of London by displaying a sheer curtain over a gallery window space. The overall design of the curtain depicted the action of pulling down the blinds by hand through a subtle visualization using grey and white, together with the quote being carefully placed on some large grey areas. The set up of the space was kept as minimal as possible with only some books and a flower vase on window sill so that it created a blur between public and private space, between the interior and the exterior.
(Special thanks to Patrick Du for the photos and short video)
Please continue to Everyday encounter with windows: Part II for a summary of the organized interventions and the feedback I received, as well as the presentation of my research process in the student-led festival.