INTRODUCTION: Group 6 Final Statement

Travis Stebbins, Valerie McNeal, Ivan Chew

Glass/DMA Group 6

Final Statement

The basic research and point of interest in our project was the newfound role of machinery and electronics in the process of raising children. In addition to the resource of child-related objects being available at the time of the brainstorming session, we all also found the subject to be a unique challenge to the assigned task at hand.

The ‘system’ in this piece is reflected in the audio exciter and motor duo underneath the crib; these electronics come together for the purpose, essentially, of rocking whatever is in the cradle above it to sleep. The artistic focus, then, was not on the system itself, but what the system represented in a larger standpoint, particularly in the context of raising children and the role non-human entities play in it.

The piece itself attempts to present the juxtaposition of non-human, soulless machines and the fragility of childhood and youth. Ultimately, if a question must be found, it asks, “are we (human parents) relinquishing control of our children to the machines on which we ourselves so often depend? Can machines and electronics do the same jobs, or with the same success?” The piece does not attempt to answer with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but instead brings up one of the tenets and examples of where technology usurps a role previously held by human hands— rocking a child to sleep. Raising children is neither an easy nor small feat, and requires a great deal of work. Even simply putting a child to bed requires much effort from parents. However, are the subtle nuances and accounts for inter-human relationships equally important, or can they be cast aside for the sake of simply getting the job done? The piece, in whole, is meant to present an unsettling viewpoint on the matter from one perspective.

We in Group 6 have undergone several trials, from losing members for the semester (or for about a week) to miscommunications between members to outright not having things done on time.  Even the first showing of what should have been the final display of the piece did not go successfully. However, because we have pulled through and learned from the lower moments of the project, we have managed to create an expressive piece that poses a question unlike most in the Glass/DMA collaborative project. It is a poignant and provocative piece that ultimately succeeds at representing an abstract and difficult concept for glass OR digital media to convey, and we feel that we have succeeded in the completion of our piece.