Studies on Privacy.
INSTALLATION ART ON NORTH AMERICAN PRIVACY
December 2010
In collaboration with: William Lau
With the University Centre Galleria at Carleton University as the site of study, this project explores the connection and interaction between humans in public spaces. Comparisons are made to modern North American suburbia and it's cultural origins. Several public studies were conducted leading to considerations for the improvement of the Galleria space and 2 videos commenting on the existing culture.
"When designing public spaces, social norms must be acknowledged as a powerful and invisible force. Very often individuals are impelled to comply with this force, behaving in accepted ways. These limitations are imposed to prevent certain actions. Within American culture the respect for privacy has become conventionalized, greatly reducing the communication and interaction. The fear is not of interaction but the initial confrontation.
To create successfully integral and meaningful public spaces, the space must overcome the natural tendency for individualistic segregation – the building of invisible walls. This may either be by forcefully creating integral environments that instigate interaction or providing a comfortable level of privacy that naturally deconstructs the walls which restrict communication."
