Wake Up
Brooke Thyng
Wake Up is about creating unexpectedly delightful disruptions by way of adopting and hacking existing methods of exchange, in an effort to jolt viewers out of the monotony of daily life.
Brooke Thyng
Wake Up is about creating unexpectedly delightful disruptions by way of adopting and hacking existing methods of exchange, in an effort to jolt viewers out of the monotony of daily life.
My thesis exhibition, Wake Up, was a two sided wall that invited viewers to engage with a series of designed disruptions. Side one of the wall boasted white bathroom tile, a functioning paper towel dispenser, scales, and a vintage trash can.
15 separate messages were screen printed onto rolls of paper towels. No rip was the same, giving the viewers a chance to interact with the art they took home. The messages on the towels were deliberately vague, allowing people to read into them as much, or as little as they would like.
Some of the littlest guests enjoying the altered scales.
The other scales had different messages: You Are, and Ask Again Later.
Side two of the instillation was a matte black wall with white vinyl. The visual language referred back to the paper towels on the opposite side, while acting as a strong counterpoint to the white tile. The phone sitting under the arched message was programed to ring randomly to deliver a message to whomever answered the call.
I installed a Go-Pro on either side of the wall to capture the interaction with the disruptions. Here are 4 image captures of people interacting with the ringing phone.
The messages from the phone were different every time, but focused on the idea of being open and aware of disruptions, surprises, and signs.
Once the paper towels were unrolled and screen printed, they were tightly wound back up to fit back into the dispenser
I collaborated with an engineer on the electronic components of the phone. The phone that appeared in the show was the second iteration. Through this on-going collaboration, I was able to learn to solder, code, and trouble shoot electronics.
My thesis project was always intended to live outside of the gallery in spaces that people could really interact with, without expectations. Over the course of the thesis year I installed street signs, flags, paper towels, and other small disruptions around Baltimore for unsuspecting viewers to engage with.
A series of altered street signs, speaking the same language as the paper towels, existed outside of the gallery.
Left over paper towels installed in the wild.
After installing a YES flag that I fabricated onto an apartment complex's empty flag pole, I found that they never left the flag pole empty again.