Pod Overview:
Our group plans to bring the ocean to the fields of Bonnaroo. We will construct a canopy of billowing blue fabric that resembles the waves of the ocean surface. Once you dive below the fun begins! Bobbing along the ceiling are jellyfish made from plastic bags and yarn which are illuminated from within by LEDs. On the ocean floor, you will find a treasure chest glowing with gold pirate’s booty and a variety of ocean creatures. There will be an opportunity for people (maybe even Sting!) to place a message in a bottle. We aim to create a visually and mentally stimulating pod that will encourage festival goers to not only interact with it but also escape into it.
Pre-Festival Construction:
Materials:
Stakes (wood or PVC), 7-8 ft.
Rope
Fabric (sheets and tarp)
Water Bottles
Miscellaneous items for ocean floor
Spraypaint
Hot Glue
The canopy will be constructed before the festival begins. The entire structure will be a 20ft x 20ft square. The center stake will be 7 foot and the four outer stakes will be 6 foot. Using the auger we will drill holes to secure the stakes in the ground. Rope will be run from the center stake to the outer stakes and then crossed to create a spiderweb effect. This design will be used to support strips of fabric and tarp. The fabric will be draped so that it billows and moves with the wind. Empty water bottles will be strung and hung from the ceiling to create a permeable “water curtain” effect around the perimeter of the structure (this is not drawn in the diagram). The bottles will make the structure appear to be an enclosed box of water, with floating jellyfish suspended inside. The treasure chest, oversized bottle, and ocean creatures will be constructed from materials found at the Bonnaroo site or local stores.
Audience Participation:
Materials:
Plastic bags (grocery or garbage)
Water bottles
Yarn
Clear packing tape
Fishing line or string
LEDs (already ordered)
Paper
Pens/markers
Festival goers will be invited to use their plastic bags, and some provided by us, to create jellyfish. They will be decorated with yarn and ripped bags (which create surprisingly realistic looking tentacles) before being hung from the canopy using tape and string. A pod member will assist with adding an LED to give the jellies extra life. The other activity will be the “message in a bottle.” An oversized bottle with two large holes will allow participants to write a message and/or read those of others. And finally, festival goers can contribute their empty water bottles to fill up the “water” around the structure, giving it an overall fish-tank feel.
6 comments:
this idea should spread out side of the 20 by 20 structure
and may be even invite thought about the pollution of the oceans etc. Schools of the jelly fish could be interesting and by so doing create spaces with no jelly fish the center could still be under the blue of the water but
the jelly fish could extend outward in all directions from there lighting at night will be critical as well
I like the idea of creating clusters outside of the structure that would draw people in. It might also be cool to construct a giant jellyfish (which grow to over 6 feet across in real life!).
Pollution was actually what made me think of plastic bags in the first place. Several nations and the city of San Francisco have banned them because they are harmful to the environment and very wasteful. The connection between bags and jellies was there even before our idea. Animals in the ocean, like sea turtles, mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and die after eating them. I would be more than happy to share a message of conservation with people.
ps- I'm a big nerd when it comes to wildlife.
I agree with Russ, the 20x20 structure here kills the sense that you are under a dynamic ocean. If you were to do a line drawing of the ocean where you were trying to depict its motion, how would you draw it? (Look at Vijay Celmins drawings).
Maybe we could use strips of tarp to make a drawing that spreads out from the pod. The tarp would be suspended from poles and the jellyfish from the tarp.
And the test jellyfish you guys made is GREAT!
PS: I think we should leave politics out of this project. The use of materials is smart enough so that someone looking for a message will find it.
I guess we'll see what kind and quantity of materials we can lay our hands on. I'd love to extend the water out and bring people toward the gathering of jellies under the structure. I suppose the other possibility is to abandon the structure all together and focus on creating an ocean surface (like in Celmins' ocean pieces, stunning by the way). We have lots to think about as the time approaches. Thanks for the input!
given more thought and discussion between some people in our group, the idea of extending this is totally welcome and encouraged. i think what's really neat is that we'll essentially end up with a bunch of bobbing lights (at night), so spreading the jellies out all over the space could look amazing once the sun disappears.
liz described the extended strips of fabric/tarp in a way that resembles the crest or peaks of a wave in the ocean. we could work with making alternating peaks so it looks more dynamic, more realistic. it also creates an extended space to develop some other "species". there are lots of possibilites.
i'm pumped.
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