Zone – How close is close
Bachelor Thesis October 2021 - February 2022
Humans are said to be social beings, as they are in need of physical touch and closeness to others. The perception of said closeness, however, is highly individual. "Zone" offers an experimental approach to one's comfort zone between closeness and distance. In the installation, closeness and touch are represented by an organic fog interface. The space is divided into a zone of closeness, in the centre of the room, and a distance zone at the corners of the room. Fog emerges from the proximity island, slowly wavering outward to the distance zone. The distance zone consists of individual, small distance islands that the fog cannot reach.
Visitors can use their own body heat to interact with the fog and experience closeness or just observe it from a distance. Once visitors have found the place where they feel most comfortable, they find themselves in their comfort zone between distance and proximity. There they can linger, let the installation have its effect on them, and observe the other people as they interact.
The fog interface is drawn to heat. The visitor can thereby control it with his bare body heat. If a hand is held in the fog swaths, the fog gets closer and closer to the hand. Once there, the fog rises on the warm body and envelops the visitor in mist. The light represents the centre of the installation. It is located exactly in the centre of the room. This is the centre of the closeness zone. The visitor comes closest to the other visitors here and at the same time is immersed in a lot of fog.
The distance zone represents an opposite pole to the closeness zone. The fog, which represents the proximity, cannot reach the visitor in this zone. The fog is repelled from the islands in the distance zone and never reaches the visitors standing on them.
Zone – How close is close
Bachelor Thesis October 2021 - February 2022
Touch affects our whole life, it makes us social beings. However, the perception of closeness is different for each person. "Zone" offers an experimental approach to one's comfort zone between closeness and distance. In the installation, closeness and touch are represented by an organic fog interface. The space is divided into a zone of closeness, in the centre of the room, and a distance zone at the corners of the room. Fog emerges from the proximity island, slowly wavering outward to the distance zone. The distance zone consists of individual, small distance islands that the fog cannot reach.
Visitors can use their own body heat to interact with the fog and experience closeness or just observe it from a distance. Once visitors have found the place where they feel most comfortable, they find themselves in their comfort zone between distance and proximity. There they can linger, let the installation have its effect on them, and observe the other people as they interact.
The fog interface is drawn to heat. The visitor can thereby control it with his bare body heat. If a hand is held in the fog swaths, the fog gets closer and closer to the hand. Once there, the fog rises on the warm body and envelops the visitor in mist. The light represents the centre of the installation. It is located exactly in the centre of the room. This is the centre of the closeness zone. The visitor comes closest to the other visitors here and at the same time is immersed in a lot of fog.
The distance zone represents an opposite pole to the closeness zone. The fog, which represents the proximity, cannot reach the visitor in this zone. The fog is repelled from the islands in the distance zone and never reaches the visitors standing on them.