The Promise Land (Periodic Update II)

I am beginning to narrow down my ideas and concept for my final project. I’ve decided, I want my piece  to be about bringing awareness to the black community about mental health. Its not commoner mental health be address in the Black community. Ironically, we suffer the worst because we are forced to deal with systematic and social oppressions, and do not seek help leading to the self destruction due to their circumstances. The afrofuturism design that I choose was created by Sanford Biggers called Lotus. If you look closely the image is a 18th century slave cargo ship copied and multiplied to create a flower. From far away it looks like an image that symbolizes beauty, grace, love, and more but when you look up close you can see how slaves were systematically crammed into a boat to the fullest capacity. Kings, queens, and other important people resided on these cargo ships (see below). Only the strongest survived which is the social reality for most black people in modern day America. We are expected to be strong. I am a firm believer in digging deeper and I want to use this artistic processes to figure out how I can give myself and others a voice to discuss what plagues them every day, to technology. I want to make sure that credit is given to Mr. Biggers, I want to extend the dialogue lotus enacts and use his artwork to remix an important topic that is not discussed enough. 

I would need to modify the image and I will have to begin brainstorming how I would modify color and design, to make it my own without altering the central theme. I have been brainstorming the use of metallic foil to accentuate the bodies of the individuals in the ship's, touching on the idea of once being kings and queens, as a reminder. I would plan to do the design on wood and put the foil in the etched parts.

Sanford Bigger's Lotus

Sanford Bigger's Lotus magnified

I sketched different designs to test how different LEDs would look in the piece, before purchasing (see sketches). I also want to make sure that I buy LEDs from adafruit that allow me to create movements that emulate dancing/communication which will mostly derive from Congolese dance rituals.

I have been thinking about my overall theme and how I could tie it into an interactive piece for my choice in sensor. I have been brainstorming about a microphone sensor. I would used the amplitude of someone's voice or singing, to determine the tempo and pattern of movement in the light. The key phrase I want to enact is that “to be heard is to be seen”. In my eyes, singing is a powerful tool in healing of the soul in the black community, whether it is in church or the shower. I want to use singing, or verbal interaction because it is a root communication source for black people.

Design Sketch

The next stage that I need to do is think about code syntax, various design types, how I would control lux on my LED light, and research microphone sensors and other’s code. I also need to solidify a design so I know what type of light t