Booth sculpture in progress
January 03, 2010
This sculpture is still under construction. When finished it will be painted and have a wood skin contour on the outside and L.E.D lights on the inside.
Booth is constructed around the sociological conclusion that the threshold of a single cohesive conversation is five people. When a sixth, or more is added to a group, the splinter into multiple conversations is inevitable. Based on this social understanding, Booth is an attempt to maintain the most inclusive space possible while simultaneously creating an exclusive and isolated haven.
Booth is comprised of five identical autonomous throne-like mobile sculptures which can be fitted together to form a single, secured, room-like enclosure, similar to a private restaurant booth or a closed Japanese izakaya seating space. When the five parts are fitted together they complete a circuit, prompting L.E.D. lights to illuminate above the heads of the participants. These lights are contingent on the booth remaining in place, acting as a motivator for the participants to keep the circle together. Conversely, the 5 components can also be fitted together backwards, in a straight row, ensuring that each chair is completely isolated from its neighbors.
By controlling the proximity and inevitability of a cohesive conversation, Booth can be used as a forum for social programming. Depending on the environment in which the sculpture is found, the formation of the actual booth is more or less implicit. Assuming that each participant is exercising free will, the puzzle-like application of the piece as a conversation vessel or as an isolator is dictated by the degree to which each participant feels the ‘nudge’ of organizing themselves within the greater space of the sculpture. Once completed, Booth can be the facilitator, rather than a lecture hall or round table, of singular, contained discussion. As a new medium for focused conversation, there are many possibilities for the use of Booth as a traveling public work, academic experiment or personal contraption.
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- This sculpture is still under construction
