Reflection on Take Me

interesting observations:

again, the ‘ask us what we’re doing’ sign was quite effective. the graffiti was extremely popular, we were a bit worried at one stage. people who came were quite time free, as it was friday night and they were out looking for adventure. the activity would probably not been as successful if it was on a worknight. we were surprised by how willing to chat all the visitors were. we guess that our activity attracted a certain kind of curious, risk taking personality (we were down an alleyway!)

reflection:

this was our most successful activity so far. we made the space really welcoming, with music and furniture etc, which we think really helped. also the incentive of food is something we have always found to work.

in future:

it would be interesting to try over a longer period of time and on different days. to see if we would still get the same volume of really excited people!

Take Me

time frame: one evening

keywords: reaction, behaviour, encouraging participation, taking ownership, meeting new people, playing with peoples ideas of public threats

brief concept: we set up an activity space in an allyway, then left ‘colour kits’ in a 500m radius around it containing materials for participation and instructions on where to go, promising a food reward. Those that came were asked to refill their ‘colour kit’ and place it back in society when they left.

aims: we wanted to see if people would actually pick up the ‘colour kits’ and come. we were trying to make the space as welcoming as possible. we set it on a friday evening so we would get a variety of people leaving work, to going out.

results:

lots of people came! they picked up the boxes and followed the instructions and were curious to know what it was all about. they also returned the kits to the public and we know that we had some kits that had been through at least two different groups. some people just walked past and joined in. separate groups ran into each other and got talking about how exciting it all was. everyone was happy to filmed and were very chatty. we had a few skater kids that went a bit crazy with the spray cans and a semi drunk graffiti artist. we had a few rmit design students and a quantum physicist. each person had an entirely different way of contributing.

Reflection on Natural Curation

interesting observations:

people reacted so well to the ‘ask us what we’re doing’ sign! it opened up the floodgates! kids were yelling it from either side and a cyclist asked as he whizzed passed. an old man said ‘what the hell are you doing?’  and a security guard also wanted to know what was going on. he said it was okay and later informed us that he defended us against staff outcry, saying ‘they’re just leaves!’

reflection:

the sign worked really well, it seems to give the public permission to act on their curiosity. it almost formalises their curiosity, making it okay.

in future:

we will definitely use the sign again!

Natural Curation

time frame: three hours

keywords: reaction, behaviour, interaction, direction by the public, interacting with the formal

brief concept: we set up outside the Melbourne Museum, with signs saying ‘ask us what we’re doing’ and ‘natural gallery victoria’. we then gathered and curated leaves in various ways.

aims: we wanted to see if we could grab the attention of passersby who were walking with a certain destination in mind. we were looking to see what would happen if the public directed our actions. we tried to make this one less obtrusive and decided not to film responses, but only take photos of the changing leaves

results:

asf

Reflection on Badge Making and Bartering

interesting observations:

we had the most success with kids. adults weren’t too interested, whereas the colours and sense of ‘activity’ really excited the kids. they made badges that matched their clothes

reflection:

the location really made a difference, as did the weather. spaces were people had more time and weren’t rushing were more successful. people could afford to indulge their curiosity.

in future:

it would be really interesting to try even more different spaces and see the reactions we get.

Badge Making and Bartering

time frame: four days

keywords: location, reaction, behaviour, attracting the public’s attention

brief concept: we asked people for scraps of paper/rubbish directly and through collection points. We then set up badge making stations where the public could use the scraps to make and keep badges. we stuck to orange, blue and green scraps.

aims: we wanted to see how people reacted to our stations; whether the location or our behaviour made a difference. who would be interested?

results:

We left posters up around RMIT letting everyone know we would be at the Carlton Gardens at a certain time and to come along. It was not very affective; Carlton Gardens is apparently  a fair walk for something the public isn’t too certain about. It was also horrible weather, so the first attempt didn’t really take off.

We decided instead to shelter in the RMIT food court and give it a shot. We got lots of interested stares and we tried to trade a signature on a petition for a badge making, but to no avail.

The only luck we had was with the lovely lady below. She was so intimidated by our activity that we thought she must know one of us! She made badges and chatted and gave us sandwiches from a conference she was at!

The bags of stuff looked really eyecatching!

We repeated the same activity at the Carlton Gardens on a day with nicer weather. We also moved closer to the playground.

Our first customer was this gorgeous girl and her dad. We helped her a lot with the glueing etc, she wasn’t sure which pieces to choose. They were both quite happy to participate and were glad that they stopped. Success!

Next thing you know, we attracted the attention of a school group on the playground. The supervisor came over to break the ice and suddenly there were lots of kids taking part and sharing very politely and chatting away to us about how they were divided about Justin Beiber. They thought Nick looked like him.

We noticed that they seemed to make badges that matched their clothes. Also, the lollies and apples were very popular.

They proudly showed off their badges. We tried to avoid taking photos of their faces.

Next we tried Bourke St Mall. With no success! First we got moved on by a Big Issue Salesmen who claimed that it was ‘his side’ and we had to move. So we moved across the road. The man in the photo below just stared at Nick for a while, and another man tried to give us 80 cents donation to keep the concept running. We politely explained. We got quite a few stares and giggles.

Poster experiment

time frame: three days

keywords: reaction, behaviour, colour association

brief concept: people we passed in our day were asked to choose a coloured post-it note from a selection and write why they picked it

aims: we wanted to see how people reacted to the colours; whether they chose it because of their mood, or because it was their favourite colour, or another reason. we were also looking at how they reacted to us asking for their participation

results:

Looking into what draws people to certain colours, we placed six posters in buildings 8 and 88 for students to respond to.

To our surprise there was immediate interaction!

We left the posters for three days and then came to collect them.

There were only three left! Two were still as they had been posted, one was found in the bin, and another was ripped off and destroyed by another student in front of our eyes! Whoever knew that people hated colour that much!

Here are the results:

The sad poster retrieved from the bin.

The slightly more successful posters.

The resulting tally of favourite colours, or colours most reacted to are as follows:

1st- Dark Purple stands on 31 (although this looked like the same person getting a bit excited)

2nd- Orange had 15 votes

3rd- Blue had 9

4th- Pink and Grey tied with 8

5th- Dark and Light green both had 7

6th- Yellow scored a 6

7th- Cream and Light Purple registered 5

8th- White comes last with 2 (but most posters didn’t have white as an option)

Post-It Experiment Reflection

interesting observations:

most people chose their favourite colour. some people really enjoyed the excercise and wanted to have more than one colour. we let them have as many as they wanted. a few people commented that their decision would have been different with a greater colour range.

reflection:

it seems what most people wrote as their reason for choosing the colour they did is that it makes them think of something that they like or enjoy. to them, the colour has positive connotations; many nostalgic, some funny and a few that try to break the mould.

in future:

it would be interesting to see what would happen if we limited the colours further, to only dark colours for example. would people’s reactions be more negative or would they just relate to the darker things that they enjoy?

Post-It Experiment

time frame: three days

keywords: reaction, behaviour, colour association

brief concept: people we passed in our day were asked to choose a coloured post-it note from a selection and write why they picked it

aims: we wanted to see how people reacted to the colours; whether they chose it because of their mood, or because it was their favourite colour, or another reason. we were also looking at how they reacted to us asking for their participation

results:

Facebook Experiment Reflection

interesting observations:

a few people wanted to interact with us and some interacted with each other, cheering for shared favourite colours or being the polar opposite. the reasons given were mostly a reflection of what the individual desired to be, do or feel. a few were more practically reasoned; because the colour suits them, because they think it stands out or because no-one else likes it.

reflection:

as a reaction to the request to choose ‘favourite’ colours, all colours were chosen because they were positive in the person’s mind.

in future:

possibly simply ask neutrally; ‘choose a colour, and explain why you have chosen it’, though this may result in many ‘because it’s my favourite,’ reactions. we could have red days or blue days; if you like blue, discuss here.