1. Initial thoughts:
   1. QR Code:
      1. Idea 01:
      2. Idea 02:
   2. Chandelier:
      1. Idea 01:
      2. Possible Locations:
         1. GoMA:
         2. Nobel Peace Centre:
         3. United Nations Headquarters:
2. Start Point:
   1. Considerations:
   2. Previous Prototype Sketches:
   3. Previous Prototype Documentation:
3. Extending Design Group Tutorial Notes:
4. Simplification:

Initial thoughts:

QR Code:

Today, the QR Code is slapped on the bottom of forms, screens, and posters with very little thought, a second thought. With this work, I want to put the QR code at the front, make it the main focus and explore the idea that it is a portal of information.

Idea 01:

With this concept, I want the footage to be just as polished as the sculpture and have the relationship between them to be clear and cohesive.

Idea 02:

Another idea is to create an interactive sculpture with spinable pieces so users can create their own QR code and see where it leads.

Obviously, the QR codes will need to be tested to avoid accidentally scanning anything rude.

Chandelier:

Idea 01:

At this moment in time, I think another possible idea would be take my Expressive Data project from last year forward for the extended design project.

This button will take you to this project for a more in-depth look.

During the development of that project the idea was floated that this chandelier or collection of chandeliers is more akin to a light sculpture and data visualisation, and that it would be very fitting in places such as the United Nations headquarters in New York or the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, so remembering this I have asked a friend of mine, Elias, who might be working with the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo for his masters.

Possible Locations:

GoMA:

As the GoMA is well known to me, it was one of the first places I considered when thinking about Extending Design, it’s easily accessible, the space is open and dyamic and here I have shown the main hall as I think it would be a space for showcasing all of the chandeliers, but as I write this I remember the balcony area and how one of the chandelers would be able to hang down through all 3 levels allowing an upclose look at one of them.

The GoMA would also be ideal for the QR code sculptures within the space, displayed as shown above, completely open and well-lit, with natural light flooding the space.

Nobel Peace Centre:

The Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo was initially mentioned when the project for extending the design was first done, as the Nobel Peace Centre focuses on rewarding those who seek to bring peace and the betterment of mankind, and I feel that a piece that focuses on the beauty of the human routine would be openly welcomed there. The Nobel Peace Centre is also no stranger to hosting art exhibitions that align with its own mission.

United Nations Headquarters:

As mentioned previously, the Nobel Peace Centre is an organisation that aims to achieve and maintain peace worldwide. As a place of work, I think the chandelier hanging in the space can be a gentle reminder of why they do what they do, to actively see a small representation of the lives they help.

Start Point:

Now that Extending Design has officially started, and with the time away, I have settled on my plan and idea for it going forward. I will use my chandelier data visualisation, which will be displayed as a long-term light sculpture at one of the previously discussed locations above.

The piece will be a number of data visualisation chandeliers that use programmed NeoPixels to display the activities of people’s day-to-day lives from around the world. A colour corresponding to the person’s recorded activities will then be displayed on their tube.

Considerations:

Off the top of my head theres a few things I want to note so I don’t forget them:

• Light – How light is the space, with the chandeliers’ light visible during the day? How bright will the light it produces be? What colours will be used to indicate what actions? What connotations do those colours have to different cultures? Are the colours unified across each chandelier, or are they personalised for each country/region/continent represented?
• Who – Who will the chandeliers be representing? And where are they from?
• Material – What material will be used? How long will the material last? The materials need to be strong enough yet light enough to hang, and the tubes themselves must allow the light to be seen.
• Construction – If this is long form and it has to hang from the ceiling for a number of years, it must be built to withstand the usual damage of ageing.
• Run time – As the chandelier changes throughout the day, when will it start, and when will it finish? Will it be 1:1, 100% accurate, or as the organisation’s workers start their shift?

Previous Prototype Sketches:

Above are the initial sketches of the chandelier design, with a possible final version in the top right of the page. I was envisaging the final chandelier design to have two levels, or maybe three, with one smaller than the other, with tubes of different sizes to correlate with the different humans being, of course, of different shapes.

Above are the development sketches of the smaller-scale prototype, with more consideration of how the tubes might be suspended when displayed.

When considering larger versions of the chandelier, the materials and suspension techniques will be closely tied together; the heavier the material or the more tubes, the more solid support will be needed.

Previous Prototype Documentation:

Here is some initial project documentation showing how the light system will start at white and then change to colours as activities are logged throughout the day.

Extending Design Group Tutorial Notes:

Simplification:

After my conversation with Gillian, it became clear that several questions needed to be answered, and those answers would shape the project’s future direction.

• What is the data?
• Where is the piece going?
• Who is the piece for?

I think these 3 questions are all interlinked, feeding into one another.

With the new direction, the question of the data was answered with simplification. The data I had was hard to communicate because I was tied to the idea of it being in a public or semi-public place rather than a closed-off gallery, so I had to simplify it so people could understand it at a glance, and if it’s going to be in Glasgow or anywhere else in the world, then what is the simple constant, weather.

When considering location, both in terms of the type of location and its position on the globe, it can be affected by the idea that the data is weather data. What is a meaningful location? If Glasgow, then where in Glasgow or anywhere else in Scotland? East and West? Glasgow and Edinburgh? And what building, somewhere public but open enough for people to appreciate the work. Or, combining those ideas, is a light piece in Edinburgh that shows the weather in Glasgow and vice versa.

And who is it for? This builds on the previous incarnation of the project, which is for the public/semi-public; the piece makes more sense to be seen by others rather than hidden away in a gallery. In this iteration, I’d like to either open the public’s eyes to data visualisation or the weather of Scotland.

Expanding this further, it could encompass more of Scotland and its weather, a collection of chandeliers scattered across Scotland, each showing the opposite ends of the weather, North to South, East to West.