A round robin discussion with my peers on the current state of my project revealed the following comments:
- General idea – thought to be promising and exciting in its unpredictability and interruption of a public space – it was very encouraging that people grasped my intention quickly and could imagine it working well.
- Material choice – wood seemed an appropriate material to make the structure – all agreed that a project with an environmental message needed careful choice of materials so as not to shoot itself in the proverbial foot.
- Typography – the font used for the text will be significant as graphic design tells its own story so a study of typography and historical context will be important to get this contextually right and ensure it is readable. A font can portray a historic time, industrial past, romantic literature, natural beauty, etc, etc. I will need to consider whether the font has symbolism in itself or whether it should be neutral and the words and sculpture delivers the message.
- Messaging – the text I put on the paddles is critical and I need to consider political, environmental, historical, and literary influences or a combination of all of them.
- Public event – this was suggested but I was asked to consider whether an audience would be significant, do I need to engage with the public or would an audio/visual record of the event be my outcome?
- Practicalities – the impact of changing water levels was discussed, which is a significant concern. I’ve got various design ideas up my sleeve to cater for this, one of which is to suspend the paddles on wires over the water (rather than a pole across the surface of the water) which would mean that they could freely move vertically if required.