CORNERED

A mapping projection video installation

TEAM

Raquel Prada, Yuchen Zhao

MY JOB

Programming , Prototyping

TOOLS

Isadora, AE, Maya, Laser Cutting

DELIVERABLES

Art Installation

INSTRUCTOR

Prof. Raquel Prada

PURPOSE

Project for exhibition

DURATION

Jan.- Aug. 2017（Phase1）

Art Installation / Projection Mapping

AFFILIATION

Duke

PRESENTATIONS/EXHIBITS

NeMaf: Seoul International New Media Festival, Seoul, Korea - August 2019, and more. 🌐

• IDEA

Cornered is a video installation that represents the motivation and struggles of migrants leaving their home country and making an attempt, often unsuccessful, to cross the border from Morocco into the Spanish cities of Melilla and Ceuta, the only European cities on Africa’s mainland.

The visual imagery focuses on the ambitions and struggles of the migrants as they journey from their home country, making the attempt to enter Spain amid the frustration of the perpetual effort to reach their dream — the dream of a better life for their families.

• KEY FEATURES

✅ Physical Dome Structure

✅ Laser Cutting

✅ Projection Mapping

✅ Video Editting

• DESIGN OUTCOME

— video credits to Prof. Raquel Prada

• DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

💡 How to do storytelling in art installation?

💡 How to design social issues into art?

💡 Physical design and visual design combination.

💡 Art expressions with different techniques, such as laser cutting, projection mapping.

💡 Immersive environment creation

• DESIGN PROCESS

1. Making the Dome

For the purpose of prototyping, a dome structure was created using wooden dowel rods with 3D-printing connectors and trace paper. We tried different sizes to see which one was most suitable for projection.

2. Laser Cutting

The geometric patterns displayed on the right were designed by Prof. Raquel Prada, who was inspired by local Moroccan culture. They were attached to the body of the dome structure.

The engravings were created by a series of precise laser cuts. Many experimental iterations were made becuase the process of laser cutting was tricky in that we had to adjust the software settings for the laser or the engravings wound be burned.

3. Projection Mapping

Porjection Mapping was the hardest part of this project. The challenge lied in how to wrap an image inside a dome, and, then, map different patterns onto different triangles. We first used a half dome mirror to distort the image but failed.Then, an idea borrowed from the UV mapping concept of 3D modeling helped. The patterns were mapped on a 2D representation of the 3D dome first, and, then, projected onto the dome by using the Isadora software.