Bookless Library
Slavoj Zizek has remarked that computational power is giving rise to ‘hypersubjectivity’ and ‘hyperobjectivity.’ That is to say, computers can now process vast quantities of data (hyperobjectivity), as well as create environments which are increasingly fit to the user (hypersubjectivity.) This project explores this theory to create empowering interfaces, kiosks, and information systems.
This project began with the development of an interface for accessing information. The goal of the interface design was to empower the user by giving him or her more control over the method by which ‘objective’ infomation was presented. To that ends, the interface allows the user to manipulate the sorting algorithm according to physical proximity. This permits the user to control the degree to which a fellow community member’s search patterns influence his or her own search results. The use of this system could therefor help foster a community identity.
In the development of a kiosk, I investigated the same questions in material terms. I explored the grid as a historic attempt to objectivitify space and refraction as a way that the subject could alter that objective space. The device consists of a monitor below a large acrylic block sitting in a gridded field. The monitor is viewed through the refractive properties of the acrylic.
The deployment of the kiosks was designed to connect the ‘tower in the park’ back to the park. I extended the park’s paths into the ‘projects’ and utilized the kiosks as nodes of activity. Doing so helps change the projects from perceived war zones, into active extensions of the city’s park system. The first two floors of the projects are removed inorder to create an open and invinting space. The kiosks are densely spaced under the projects in order create activity and encourage the exploration of information.
Location
- Monterey, MA
