Brainstorm Blog #4

Project 4 uses projection mapping to tell a visual story. This made me reflect on what stories I would most like to share with an audience. I am interested in how props and other sculptural elements can enhance or alter the projected content.

The first idea considers the use of a sculptural element I have made in a previous class. It is a wooden zoon dab. A zoon dab is a balcony with the sole purpose of viewing the zoon (moon). It is cantilevered, extending horizontally from the surface of the building, supported structurally only on one end. My Kashmiri ancestry is sustained similarly, only through a matrilineal path. Like the zoon dab, I occupy a liminal space, not quite attached, but not quite separated either. In making this piece, I had to reference images of the zoon dab. Since my mother fled Kashmir due to insurgent activity in 1990, it has not been safe for us to return. Many Kashmiri-Hindu homes were destroyed, vandalized, or left in disrepair. Through the memories of my mother, I discovered that we used our zoon dab for drying clothes, watching the sunrise, or storing things. My mother used hers as a surveillance camera, interrogating unsuspecting visitors about the purpose of their visit. My great-grandmother, who passed away only recently, had a semi-circular one with windows all around. She made her kitchen in it. Our home in Kashmir was overtaken, and modernized. Though this zoon dab is not in Kashmir, it serves to form a connection to my home that I cannot wait to visit for the first time. I would like to project different videos and images onto the zoon dab to enhance a message of longing and abandonment. I am unsure exactly what those will be yet.

This idea uses the rug creature I have made. It has been 3-D printed on a small scale, but I would be interested in remaking it on a larger scale and projection mapping onto the surfaces. It would be interesting to add color and patterns onto the rug creatures and the surrounding environment. The rug creatures could potentially be suspended by traditional Indian fabric.

These are some brainstormed ideas of potential videos that could be datamoshed and used for projection mapping.

The final idea I had was to use sneakers as props. I have a pair of Nike Dunk Lows that have the paisley pattern on the swoosh. However, not many people know that the paisley pattern originated in Kashmir. I would like to tell the story of its origins.