I was prompted to respond to a particular space within the Rhode Island School of Design campus. The result of this needed to be a piece that lived within that space and spoke to some properties of it that have come up during your priliminary exploration of the space.
The space that I ended up choosing was a bench right behind Market House, to the left of Market Square. I was intrigued by it because I had heard about its ability to transfer sound across the entirety of its form. If someone whispers at the wall on one side of the bench, it is clearly audible on the other.
During my observations of the place, I found it interesting that my main source of information about it was through word of mouth. I decided to focus on that idea as an important property of this space - the idea that one can only fully experience the space through oral storytelling.
I decided to make a scavenger hunt of sorts, with markers that would require interaction to fully understand. This made the viewer work to obtain the information, raising the barriers to accessing it. I felt this was appropriate because if the information was easily accessible, it wouldn't reflect the high barriers of access that word of mouth requires - the need to be in the right place at the right time, with the right people.
I created small markers out of folded pieces of paper. They collapsed into a small marker that could expand to show an informational poster. The markers were attached with tape on the bottom and velcro pieces at the top, allowing them to be resealed for different people to interact with. The marker I placed on them was a red google maps marker, which is a pretty recognizable and accessible symbol, but with the dot replaced with the RISD logo to link more closely with the topic of the scavenger hunt.
The hunt itself lead to many places around RISD campus that are often overlooked or have stories that cannot be accessed simply by looking at the space. These are compiled into the posters, which also have directions to the next marker. These directions lead them to the other markers, but also make them pay more attention to the things that they pass when they walk around campus.
The hunt itself lead to many places around RISD campus that are often overlooked or have stories that cannot be accessed simply by looking at the space. These are compiled into the posters, which also have directions to the next marker. These directions lead them to the other markers, but also make them pay more attention to the things that they pass when they walk around campus.
Various ways of interacting with a marker
1: Marker on the wall of Homer Hall
2: Fully expanded view
3: Just the name of the area that the marker is referring to
4: Half expanded view
This modular way of organizing information, with some views allowing for more information, depending on your interaction with the marker, reflects the idea of word of mouth - the more you engage with it, the more information you can learn.
The first six markers in digital format. Made with InDesign.
Marker next to the wall right outside the Met - one of the dining halls on campus
The poster on the wall outside of the Met expanded
Other places where markers are around campus
Top: Path to Ewing House
Bottom: Garden between South Hall and Homer Hall
