Rebargroup: Chris Gassaway

so here is the research that goes along with the "dome" inflatable

i initially started by thinking of objects and installations that i had seen for myself that in some way exemplified the characteristics of being interactive and an intervention of some sort...

so thus...

the installation outside the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX

i always see people  weaving/tying knots/swinging/hanging in the strands when i go by it...

also 

this chair by Jonny Detiger is equipped with dials to modulate a pre-recored looped sound... so the soundscape was then changed due to the interaction of the person sitting in it...

in both instances an object that was interacted with through touch created a completely new and different experience for the surroundings

with the idea of building an inflatable object of some sort i polled some students in my studio about objects that "wanted" to be touched... the answers i received reminded me of a scene
from "Hable con ella" (Talk to Her) by Pedro Almodovar...

the idea then became about creating a large scale portion of the human body as a sort of inflatable addition to the a sites existing topography...

by people climbing on top of the form they would be changing and shaping it in a way specific to their weight ,body shape, and interaction position. Also the people on top of the structure would then be changing the experience for the people possibly within the structure.

typically human forms are interacting with the objects around them... by creating an object that is based on a human form a role reversal starts to take place..

.

eventually, even with the added support of fans or blowers the form would start to concave creating a new effect/affect

here are a couple of proposed ways for constructing such a form as suggested by Ant Farm...

the desired method for bonding/joining each piece would be the iron/aluminum heat sink method that is described by Ant Farm

hand drawings and sketches will follow once i scan them...

adios,

Chris