Following on from Sasha Strauss' talk on the emotional connections we desire and how this is needed in branding, I watched "The Paradox of Brand Experience", a TED talk by Josh Miles which focuses on the actual experience of a brand and not just the service or product provided. (I foresee a TED Talk binge coming on - academic it is not, but there are a ton of talks by branding and design professionals therefore a lot of pointers for someone like me who still has a million ideas stewing in my head).
"Sometimes, your A+ work is not always perceived as A+" Miles says, with regards to the work a designer might do for a client. He uses an example of his experience as a child, when his father would record clues on a tape machine as to what his birthday present was and where it is. The clue would be played and Miles would hunt for his gift around the house. He notes that the experience of searching for the present was more exciting than the present itself. I can vouch for this - since I was about 3 my uncle has created a treasure hunt on Christmas Day where myself, my brother and my 4 cousins look for little scraps of paper with clues to the location of the next one. The 6 of us are aged 19-25 - basically adults - yet to this day this is the highlight of our Christmas. We don't really care about our presents too much, what we love is the fun of the searching and riddle-solving.
"Most of us deal in their crowded middle, most of us make the same stuff, most of us compete at the same price…the constant challenge is, how do you differentiate yourself in that space, and position yourself to the market?"
This brings me to the work of Olafur Eliasson, who creates optical art and plays with light and colour. His opening for his project Multiple Shadow House at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery was described in an article in Daily Serving as "a bit like Disney World meets the hands-on section of a science museum; particularly because the exhibition involves the viewer in a collaborative creative process." (Beaver, 2010). Split colour shadows on a wall encouraged people to interact with their own outlines, becoming playful in the process and looking at their own shadow in a new light, literally. Eliasson's work is concerned with light and how we use it in certain spaces. "The user," writes Beaver, "negotiates and constructs his or her own surroundings while experiencing subtleties of colour, thrill of participation, and magic of science."(Beaver, 2010).
This particular exhibition by Eliasson is also important for me to look at for the element of the after image that his works leave on the vision of the viewer. The lights in each piece are projected in such a way that they interact with each other to leave a image on the retina when the viewer blinks. "As explained in the press release, 'the intense projections fade in an out, and complimentary afterimages stay on the visitor's retina and appear to multiply the colour compositions. As a result, the film is only partially produced by the spotlight's projection; the rest is contributed by the viewer.' " (Beaver, 2010)
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| Fig 1- Multiple Shadow House photo by Angeles Brugera Assensio |
So what is achieved when the viewer, whether consciously or perhaps in this case also unconsciously, becomes part of the art? What kind of subject matter is typically the kind used in a piece where human involvement is needed to fully realise a piece?
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| Fig 2 -Data Shadows photo by AnnieLaurie Erickson |
AnnieLaurie Erickson's Data Shadows is an installation art piece which makes use of eye-tracking techniques and a software that simulates tunnel vision "to allow the viewer to explore the act of seeing" (Bush, 2014). The viewer looks at a blank screen, which is then illustrated according to the movements their eyes are making while taking it in visually. This creates an image which they have contributed to just by looking at it and providing the move-fix-move-fix of their eye movements, and gives a very transparent view of how an individual physically looks at a work of art. However, this particular piece is more than a user-interaction project: "The installation, in the context of this show, becomes a warning: If our eyes reveal our deepest thoughts and emotions, will eye-tracking technology allow companies to mine even more intimate information about the future?"(Bush, 2014). Erickson's statement through Data Shadows is about the way our personal information can and has been gleaned through our technical presence and how invasive that becomes, while still being based on our 'internet selves'. This kind of subversive yet obvious art is an interesting kind of interactive piece because it requires a post-participation awareness of why it was the way it was. For the art piece to be fully realised, the viewer has to think through and realise the message behind the medium, the subject matter and arguably even their own participation in it.
I am looking at these works because I have done a lot of thinking about the "brand experience" so to speak, and if it could be literally that - an experience that could be measured by the person taking part, somewhat in the same way that Erickson's and Eliasson's can. The work of installation art company Luma is a good example of this combination of brand identity, human interaction and the experience that comes from the two. On their website, the company say "We develop interactive experiences that wrap the real world with the digital, creating fun products and engaging environments. " Recent projects include YRWall, a fun update on the interactive whiteboards used in primary schools where users draw with spray can controllers. This gives an experience not unlike spraying graffiti on a wall in real life, so users can make-believe they are a graffiti artist for a short while. This kind of hints at a little snatch of escapism the user could have, which is another thing I have yet to consider - sometimes an aspiratonal lifestyle is more pivotal to a brand's marketing strategy than the products. Luma further the "graffiti artist dream" angle by offering demonstrations from working graffiti artists, illustrators and artists at an event who can show users how it is done, as well as support materials such as stencils, palettes and so on. Luma also offers companies the chance to commission a custom interface, so that a brand identity can be present visually. A feature which I find very relevant to the use of mirrors I have been thinking about recently is the Live Photo Feature, where users can "get funky with a digital makeover" and even get it printed at a later date. "Technology is key to creating consumer engagement before and after a purchase, and we believe that in-store experiences and retail installations are in their infancy…Our project portfolio includes motion sensitive mirrors, motion-sensitive interactive LED walls, bespoke information displays, touch screen solutions and applications." says their website.
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| Fig. 3 Installation by Luma for Zoo York store |
What Luma achieve with installations such as this is the ability to bring customers into the process and facilitate their ability to be creative. What kind of project could I create that would follow this same vein?
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References:
Unknown, 2013. Luma home page. [online site] Available at: http://thisisluma.com
[Accessed 17th October 2014]
Unknown, 2013. Luma. What we do. [online article] Available at: http://thisisluma.com/products/retail-installations/
[Accessed 17th October 2014]
Beaver, Erin, 2010. Olafur Eliasson Multiple Shadow House [online article] Available at:
http://dailyserving.com/2010/02/olafur-eliasson-multiple-shadow-house/
[Accessed 12th October 2014]
Bush, Tori, 2014. AnnieLaurie Erickson: Data Shadows at Carroll Gallery [online article] Available at: http://dailyserving.com/2014/09/annielaurie-erickson-data-shadows-at-carroll-gallery/
[Accessed 12th October 2014]
Miles, Josh, 2014. The Paradox of Brand Experience. TedxTalks [online video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWrlJccg828>
[Accessed 7th October 2014]
Images:
Fig.1 :
Erickson, AnnieLaurie, 2014. Data Shadows 2014; installation view [electronic image] Available at:
http://dailyserving.com/2014/09/annielaurie-erickson-data-shadows-at-carroll-gallery/
Fig. 2:
Brugera, Angeles, 2012. (3/15) [electronic image] Available at:
http://www.emecubica.net/?p=813
Fig.3: Unknown, 2013. New Era Footlocker jpeg [electronic image] Available at:
http://thisisluma.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/New-Era-footlocker-3.jpg
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