Author: gea4

Sp18 Solar Studios

WaterProof | BUILD/TEST

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This week we started building and testing around our how can we statement: how can we help the Rice community become more aware of their water consumption through an installation art piece at the Solar Studios? Through our past phases of the design process we isolated the insight that our water footprint is much larger than the direct water consumption we are aware of. Though we may not be able to always see that water footprint, others can when it impacts the larger system. With this in mind, we plan to build an art instillation at the Solar Studios that … Continue reading WaterProof | BUILD/TEST

Sp18 Solar Studios

WaterProof: Mid-Semester Review and Prototyping Beginnings

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Solar Studios MSR Blog Post   Before beginning ideation, we narrowed our how can we statement to: how can we help the Rice community become more aware of their water consumption through an installation art piece at the Solar Studios? We also finalized four specific design goals for our installation:   Successfully built and installed in the Solar Studios space by April 20th Appeals to a broad audience Has visibility on campus/is visited by Rice community Impacts visitors in some way – emotional reaction, change in individual behavior, or action by university administration.   After narrowing our problem space, hcw, … Continue reading WaterProof: Mid-Semester Review and Prototyping Beginnings

Sp18 Solar Studios

ºººboxWaterººº reFrame

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Blog post 2/24 Insights This past week, we continued to gain information about water consumption, this time focusing specifically on Rice’s own water usage. Allison conducted an excellent interview with Rice sustainability director Richard Johnson and compiled many insights for us to use as inspiration regarding specific water usage data at Rice, including that Rice uses a quarter of a billion gallons of water every year! Furthermore, Rice gets water through 3 different meters: domestic, irrigation, and emergency, and some of them have more narrowed down meters across campus, which could supply specific data for us to use in our … Continue reading ºººboxWaterººº reFrame

Sp18 Solar Studios

Team boxWater: IMMERSE

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IMMERSE Art Visits Last week, we kicked off our immersion into installation art and water consumption with some exhibit visits. We went to the Contemporary Arts Museum in the museum district and saw Brooklyn-based artist Christopher Knowles’s In a Word and collaborators Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh’s photo series Dissent and Desire, which focused on the experience of LGBTQ+ people in India. We enjoyed the exhibitions, discussed them afterwards, what we liked and didn’t, ideas that pieces gave us. A key observation we made about people’s museum habits and behaviors: typically, a group will split up to look at the art as … Continue reading Team boxWater: IMMERSE

Sp18 Solar Studios

Team boxWater: IDENTIFY

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Hi! We are team boxWater and we are working on an installation piece to visualize and empathize with our consumption for the Solar Studios on Rice University’s campus. The Solar Studios are a student and community art gallery housed in solar-powered shipping containers. In the past they have featured works from artists at Rice and in the community. Lina Dib, the Director of the Solar Studios, has tasked us with responding to the issues of water consumption and conservation, and sustainability in Houston. First, we’ll introduce ourselves. I am Greg, the author of this blog post and the team lead. … Continue reading Team boxWater: IDENTIFY