AMBITION IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS
COLLOQUY
Gordon Pask’s seminal gallery work COLLOQUY OF MOBILES was an interactive installation that was part of the highly influential exhibit CYBERNETIC SERENDIPITY at the Institute for Contemporary Art in London in 1968. COLLOQUY OF MOBILES comprises sculptural figures that move and interact through light and sound, with each other and with the public. COLLOQUY explored the nature of machine-to-machine and person-to-machine conversations in an interactive, immersive environment that was one of the first of its kind.
© 2018 College for Creative Studies MFA Interaction Design
What we learned
COLLOQUY will be constructed by the students of the MFA Interaction Design program as part of their studio practice, starting in January 2018. An expert in 3D-fab and hardware/software has been identified, an initial budget for construction has been created, and an advisory board has been formed. Collaboration of other departments at CCS (metalworking, glassblowing, and sculpture, as well as the Exhibition Committee) will be sought.
The next step is to approach appropriate foundations and possible corporate sponsors (makers of digital hardware including sensors, software vendors, and digital and exhibit design studios).
How we learned
Phase 1 of the COLLOQUY project began on January 8, 2018, with the kickoff of the two studio courses, Studio II and Studio IV as part of the CCS MFA IxD Program. 5 second-year students from studio IV reviewed the historical records of the original installation, including photographs, movies, flowcharts, and contemporaneous descriptions. Then, they passed the synthesis to 7 first-year students (Studio II), to build the prototype. Meanwhile, one of the instructors, TJ, who worked independently with fabricators, wrote the software, constructed the hardware, and used 3D printing to fabricate a 1/6 scale working mock-up of COLLOQUY in its 1968 operations.
TEAM
Paul Pangaro
Mentors
Studio IV
MFA IxD STUDIO IV
