prototyping
Extinction Rebellion
Time: February 24 – March 2
Brief: Engage a diverse audience on the theme of species loss.
Art group: Riezan, Kai, Carol
XR group: Riezan, Jason, Kai, Pat, Ana, Jiayi, Jae, Tonicha, Amber, Sanjana, Carol
Following a two-week break, due to the Collaborative Unit, we started making our prototypes for the final outcome. On Monday we received feedback from John telling us to look into different, more abstract interpretations of the reset button rather than just creating one big installation. We also wanted to be more cohesive with the whole group, so we followed the direction where we would be able to connect the reset button with the animal funeral idea from the performance group.
We created three different versions of the reset button. With the first button, you could, instead of pushing it, stamp it with a glow-in-the-dark Extinction Rebellion sign, gradually creating an art piece that would showcase how many people want to reset their actions.
Prototypes for different reset ideas.
We also wanted to explore the digital space where a button would appear on different websites along with the timer showing how much time we have to save different animal spices, and when clicked, it would prolong the time as well as redirect you to the Extinction Rebellion ’Become a member’ page, illustrating that your actions in the right directions will result in a positive outcome.
Digital reset button.
In the final variation, we used the poet John Keats’ idea of negative capability to portray the message that it is normal to feel uncertainty regarding the species extinction as well as the environmental crisis. This button would stand on its own and when pushed, it would produce an error sound, portraying that we cannot change what we have done in the past and we do not know what the future holds, but we can still do something anyway. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain if we take action now and help the Earth.
Prototype reset button.
In the meantime, the media team filmed the majority of the fake news, which also involved animal interviews and news in different languages acting as if a global crisis had started. The performance team continued planning the animal funeral protest by planning the route from the LCC to Southwark Council and procuring the elements that would help create the funeral appearance such as a coffin, black clothes and flowers.
The feedback we received was positive. They gave us some guidance regarding protests and dealings with the police and advised us on how to make the news even more professional. Regarding the reset button, they liked the idea of digital space, but they felt that the timer was too literal, as none of us actually know the time frame we have to prevent mass animal extinction. They were really fond of the idea of negative capability and encouraged us to work in this direction.
