Piece made for Faith 4

Sometimes our dreams and memories can visit us…

Figs. 108 - 110

Figs. 111 - 113

Figs 114 – 116

Jayne Wallace Sometimes our dreams and memories can visit us copper, enamel, synthetic silk Figs. 108 – 116 Details from accompanying film

Figs. 108 – 110 show details of the neckpiece, Figs. 111 – 116 show the neckpiece when worn and rare digital visits of film sequences playing on displays around a city as the wearer passes them (See accompanying DVD for full version of film and Appendix B section 1 further detail of the

development of this piece and the film that accompanies it)

The final piece centred on the notion of old, worn, well loved objects, something that echoed objects and associated stories shared with me by Faith, the fantasy elements of Faith’s dream, her daughter’s hair and the idea arising from Faith’s descriptions of the role

4 Appendix B section 1 accompanies the development of this piece

played for her by the jumble sale; a source of bizarre and intriguing objects that found her (in addition see Appendix B section 1). The objects that Faith shared with me were predominantly all old, worn, organic and tatty in some cases and I wanted to be sensitive to this. I made an object that could fit with those she cherishes.

I made the piece as a dreamy space for reality and fantasy to overlap; to contribute to the potential of our interactions with jewellery objects and our wider environments encountered when wearing digital jewellery or ubiquitous computing. The piece used the traditional perceptions and conformities of the notion of a necklace as a backdrop for a jewellery object, which was in concept recognisable, not overtly challenging physically or sensually and which referred in part to traditional methods and materials of production. In contrast the digital potential of the jewellery was to trigger a small number of silent filmic sequences, of personal significance to Faith, on digital displays in the near radius to the necklace. The digital potential was future focused, where these sequences could occur in a personal or public environment on digital screens in the street, home or mobile device.

The digital occurrences facilitated by the piece were not intended to be frequent; they would only happen rarely and in randomised succession. The interaction idea arose from the notion of a jumble sale as a source of intriguing and bizarre objects that found Faith, this was an important dynamic, a way for things to find her. The jumble sale had acted as a source of surprising objects and in a similar way I made a piece that would enable objects and notions symbolic of her past memories, experiences and dreams to find Faith again; to pay her fleeting visits digitally. The jewellery was conceived to act in this way as a portable and wearable home for old lost objects and aspects of dreams that could travel with Faith and occasionally appear as filmic references to the original.

When these events would occur the result may be an environment where, for a few seconds, the locality is literally acknowledging something personally meaningful for Faith. The quietness of both the jewellery piece and these interactions would not interfere with the hustle and bustle of a location, only the imagery would draw attention to the event, indeed the digital visit may be missed entirely or glimpsed as it fades. The importance would not be an issue of control, but the surprise of objects visiting from time to time.

The imagery would have particular meanings for Faith, there is a connection to aspects of her personal history and as such a connection to her sense of self, but the imagery would not be identifiable to others as belonging to her. The films of a white horse in marshland and a pastry cutter making indentations in pastry are sufficiently ambiguous to leave the piece open for interactions, interpretations and meanings from other people who may see them. Faith could experience the visits without others knowing they were triggered by her neckpiece or that they connected to her personal history and similarly aspects of the visits and meanings could be kept private or shared by Faith.

When occurring in a public environment I imagined that these small moments or visits could operate in the same way as a talisman: something that travels with you and has personal symbolism. I imagined for example, the digital visits potentially changing a strange new city into somewhere that felt familiar if the visits occurred there.

The neckpiece had an ambiguity of function, with no buttons or no obvious ways of controlling the digital aspects of the piece and in extension to this the necklace remained visually dormant, using other digital devices and displays as vessels for the visual interactions. The digital visits would be examples of a disruption to the stability of what we expect to see on the digital displays we are used to interacting with. In encountering the digital visits our well-trodden paths or daily journeys may reveal a pleasantly unexpected gift, the experience may leave us feeling disoriented initially, but may also offer new, personal and unique ways of interacting with our environments.

I have given examples of my ideas of how the piece would operate and the relevance or significance it may have for the wearer or viewer, however these ideas were not passed on to the participant and in chapter 6 (Participant responses…) I give an account of Faith’s response.