Interactive ceramics

Lunch with Resonant Dishes should be an engaging experience. Instead of a mindless, hurried routine this lunch should be worthwhile, interesting and playful. It should allow the user time to rediscover themselves and reconnect with themselves, the tableware and the food during every meal. To make this happen the lunch will be enhanced with rich […]

Porcelain and play

After the first explorations I decided to mostly work with the beautiful, white Jade porcelain. I was hoping for more control in creating bowls, spoons and plates. The teacher realized my fragile and soil-able work needed some extra care in handling and firing, which was very helpful. Spoons The spoons from the previous session all […]

Experimenting with clay

Connecting with the everyday My design research practice focuses on making everyday activities more meaningful through interactive, embodied interaction. I explore how meaning can emerge by designing opportunities for novel connections with the objects, the activity and the body. The connections I look for are characterized by responsivity, openness, and speaking in your own voice, […]

Performance design

The make-up performance at Damians Dressing Table aims to provide the audience with a (stylized) insight into the intimacy of the performers dressing room. For the performer the make-up performance is meant to stay connected to their own body and the (objects on) the table whilst transitioning into the drag persona Damian and preparing for […]

Mirror and Belt

This post describes the experiments for creating a mirror that aims to assist in regulating breathing by both visual and auditory cues. The mirror acts as a device for entrainment, setting the pace for a slow breathing rhythm. Five bright LED lights (Neopixels) placed around the mirror fade in and out for five seconds respectively […]

Table interactions

The design question for this experiment was how interaction with the table and the objects enables the make-up practice and also enhances the connection with the environment (table and objects) and decreases the sense of self by inducing wonder or awe. The latter are manifestations of self-transcendent experiences [1]. The layout of the table was […]

Shaver 2. Stimulation

The previous post described different options for skin sensation during “shaving”. The goal of the shaving process is to increase intimacy with and relaxation in the body through movement and tactile stimuli. The most promising materials were: cotton wool, soft foam, neopreen, fleece and velvet (view previous post). This post describes the outcomes of two […]

Shaver 1. Head

This is the first of three posts researching different elements of a shaver for Damian: Shaving head Stimulation Device shape The goal of this experiment was to assess the sensations of nine different materials on the cheeks and throat and the emotions and mind states this evoked. The materials will be used as a “shaving […]