Rain
Bottles and cups start falling as if they were rain. These cups and bottles are not only life-sized, but their behavior is extremely life-like in the way they fall and bounce, giving the spectator the feeling of literally being under a shower of bottles and cups. When the screen has completed filling up, the viewer is immersed in an overwhelming sensation of being covered in a huge mountain of bottles and cups.
“Rain” is a computer-generated animation that represents how many bottles of water, coffee, and soda cups we consume and waste every day. It was originally designed for and presented at the IAC screen in NYC, which is one of the biggest rear projection screens in the world at 120’ by 12’. The original piece consists of approximately 9,000 life-size, CGI bottles. During the summer of 2012, the piece was shown at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Explore the project.
Game Over
This piece is a computer-generated animation based on the hugely popular game Tetris with piece intends to show some of the problems we face with the mounting numbers of discarded PCs.
This is the ideal game to remind us of the problem of mounting waste, as we battle to “recycle” lines and maintain our mountain of cubes to a minimum. According to the EPA, between 2003 and 2005, 85% of electronics went straight in the trash and directly into the landfill. An old PC may contain several pounds of lead and toxins such as cadmium, mercury, and beryllium. Even though e-waste is only 4% of the total landfill in the US, it accounts for over 40% of the lead in them and 70% of toxins. Besides the toxic metals in the electronics, the cases and plastic components contain large amounts of fire-resistant chemicals that are known to be hazardous. Explore the project.
Wartime Nutrition
Our society is changing constantly. More and more challenges arise, leaving humanity fragile and unprepared for the shifting requirements of survival. Our ecological structure is crumbling, our consumption unstoppable and the media more oppressive, manipulative, and overwhelming than ever before. Our daily lives become covered with layers of advertising, “news”, celebrity lifestyle reports, and a growing sense of uncertainty. Layer after layer of fake grows thicker every day, making reality a jumbled constructed set of fictions.
Heartbeat
I documented people doing exercise with a sensor that reads their heartbeat. I then use the bottom screens to visualize their heart rate by using the blooming of flowers. Athletes will be displayed on the top screen with a blue sky and green grass background. With this piece, I explored the relationship between exercise and life. Our body is a temple and our surroundings are an extension. I wanted to create a visual statement that we are only one with nature and the sanctity of life is the same for a blade of grass, a flower, or a person.
Plus and Minus
AIDS kills millions each year and sets back progress in developing countries. Thanks to recent advances in access to antiretroviral therapy, and the reduction of their cost, HIV is no longer a death sentence for many in wealthy countries. The bad news is that more than 5.5 million people in need of ART in low- and middle-income countries still have no access to treatment. The number of deaths of people infected per year could be decreased dramatically if the investment increased. For example, the military expenditure last year was 12,000 billions. Based on data from the WHO, we only need 25 billion to stop the number of deaths worldwide. Seems a large number by itself, but insignificant next to the military spending.
The model starts with a map of the World on the right and the controls to the loft. The year is 1990 and speed is 40%. It then shows the growth of HIV/AIDS from 1990 to 2007 as drops of blood per country. The map updates with data from the last year and then creates the next year of data based on the user’s choices so far. Users has the option to come back in time and move to the future, back and forward, but default values will be applied for each year. Explore the project.
Up
In 1985 Nintendo released “Balloon Fight” and it quickly rose to be an arcade classic. The pixelated backgrounds and characters along with the advance physics still bring a sense of nostalgia to many. Inspired by the 8-bit flying characters on balloons, flat clouds, and simplified backgrounds, I wish to bring the arcade feeling to an everyday scene in Boston.
The bottom panels feature two classic shots of the Boston skyline, reduced to basic shapes built with repetitive cubes. The Boston sky has been brought back in time to the mid 80’s by using a single tone of light blue and repetitive arcade clouds. All through the sky, our characters fly on their balloons while living their daily lives. Drinking a coffee, talking on the phone, or walking to work, they all float through the sky supported by their balloons. We live our daily lives without sometimes stopping to think about our dreams. We have all wanted at some point to be able to lift up in the sky and float freely over the city skyline. As the characters hold on to their balloons and float weightlessly over the city, their dreams become a part of their daily life. Opposed to the idea of fighting against each other from the original arcade game I wish to enhance the spirit of coexistence, peace, and harmony.
Dumping
Women Rights