Within our first few discussions of possible ideas for an installation, we came to the
realization thatwe wanted to not only speak to the site—with either a
geographic or inter-personal voice—but also use the physical aspects of the
site in our project. We thought that combining 
this permanent element of the
area but slightly altering it would not only give us a strong link between our
media and site specificity but also a difficult challenge to work around. It
would also keep our installation more camouflaged into the site so it would not
take away from what we display on the ground. We
created a projector that would use the natural light of street lamps to display
an image directly onto the ground.
To do this, we used a stripped down 70s era light projector and modified in particular ways to take all advantage of the light that the street lamps give off. We stripped down all but the Fresnel lens and the casing that held it, as well as the magnifying lens and the arm on which it is mounted. To take advantage of the light, we made sure that the projector would sit flush with the light by adding some wood onto the bottom of the projector. In line with the importance of mobility to our project (explained later,) we decided that the projector should be easily mounted and removed, so straps are all that is required to install the project.
The stencil images, which display on the ground,
are printed on
lamination sheets, and sit on the Fresnel lens. These sheets can also be easily put on or
taken off, so that the projector can display different images. These stencils display images that speak to
the site in which the project is installed. As a finishing touch we spray painted the projector black, so that at
night it looks like an extension of the street lamp.
After the
projector was theoretically sound and nearly half built we took a step back and
realized that we could incorporate a mobility aspect in our installation. We
continued by building our projector in such a way that it could easily be
removed, transported, and set back up. We also created our stencils in a way
that we could easily replace the one projected. This idea struck us when we
were walking around campus gathering parts for our projector. We realized that
many thoughts simply strike people as they are traveling, so why not add some
stimulus or thoughts of our own to their walk?
With these two concepts we
proceeded in building our projector, and designing stencils that we thought
appropriate for certain lights around campus. Our final stencil, or at least
the one that will be displayed first (this Tuesday near the library), speaks to
a more general concept of preparing ones brain for the work ahead. We hope to
have this installation left up for a week or so at a time, then moved to
another light and left for a similar amount of time. We already have a handful
of site-specific stencils prepared.
In conclusion, we have created a project that not only speaks to a site by displaying a pertinent image, but also uses a highly ordinary object to take part in a highly extraordinary endeavor.
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