The Secret Garden Party
The Secret Garden Party opened on July 24th, and ran for 3 days. The theme of the festival this year was revolutions, and the marketing led with a quote from Bertland Russell:
Thought is subversive and revolutionary... Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief Glory of man
As well as a packed roster of bands and acts, The Secret Garden Party followed this years cerebral theme with a range of “Action Camps” including a Guerrilla Science Camp. Here’s a pdf with the line-up of hands on science, which took place in this corner of the festival site over the 3 days.
Susana and Tobie were there with Material Beliefs, from 4-5pm on Friday 25th, with a tent of festival goers inventing their own biological-silicon hybrids in felt-tip and plasticine...
See the sections for a closer look at Material Belief's session:
The body product game
Our session was all about how bodies and products become connected through new technologies. Some initial slides showed images of everyday hybrids - including gamers and karaoke singers - enveloped within the tools of their pursuit.
Less familiar examples were Jimmy and James fly eating furniture, and Elio's cell viewer, the Neuroscope. How do these novel arrangements encourage us to rconsider our relationship with technology, and imagine the social impact of use?
At this point it was over to the floor, and groups were provide with a body part and a household product, and asked to imagine how these elements could be combined in a new product.
Click here to play the game (requires flash plug-in, 2.5Mb file size). The images in this game were kindly discovered via Google's image search, to make your match click "Body" for a biological bit, and "Product" for the manufactured element. Send in your designs!
Playing games - where is the boundary between the player and the console, or the singer and sound system?
Novel designs are unfamiliar, and help us freshly consider the implications of using products.
The body product game randomly selects a body part and a household product.
Photos from the session
Sketches from the session
Here are a selcection of sketched designs...
A watch embedded in th arm. It lies behind a skin flap, and loses time if the owner is sick.
The LED lights in this tongue are switched by taste buds. The "helpful torch" is a brighter LED in the tounge tip that comes on at stress full moments.
A detail of the interface between a taste bud and an LED. It is unclear if the bud has been modified to provide a source of power, or indeed acts as a switch.
I'm not sure about this one. I think it is a memorial clock, that animates after the patients death? It seems to offer little solace, the relatives are crying. Or perhaps they have missed tea time.
The kidney bed is a domestic dialysis unit. The sleeper has fallen from the bed after a heavy night on the sauce, assured that her blood will be spring-cleaned by morning.
A chest worn switch allows the heart rate to be manually adjusted.
The Bingo Caravan
When we left the site, we passed this group. The crackly loud-hailer voice of an unseen caller was drifting out of the caravan, as the Bingo players groaned and cheered. Our favourite sight of the day.
Workshop 25th July 2008, text and images 18th August 2008, by Susana and Tobie.