Critical Evaluation

The device I originally wanted was the iceberg that melted or solidified as people moved close or away. Protecting the environment is the eternal theme of mankind. The reason why I chose to do this is that environmental problems caused by global warming are getting worse and the melting of polar glaciers is a very straightforward result that need to be pay an eye on it.

About the part which did not achieve my desired effect is that I want the melting is as people close to the iceberg. It will melt into water gradually by becoming smaller and smaller then disappear in the sea at the end. However, due to the limited technology, I can not let it really melt into the water but chose to do some rocks attached to the mountain, with rocks falling down the mountain collapsed to the sea to show the iceberg melting disappeared. Furthermore, when people leave the ultrasonic sensor can capture the distance, the water will re-form the shape of the iceberg, this part of my treatment is to let the mountain rise through revealing the water.

The solution I came up with is that I made two sea levels, in order to let the mountain down, the depth of the sea and can rise quickly cover the mountain, so as to achieve a mountain melting effect, at the same time, the sea is also non-stop flow.

This is the first time I used Arduino to create interactive installation. Before that I did not imagine how to make a circuit board and Unity animation program connected. Ultrasonic sensor measurement distance is the first time I come into contact with things. Connect the circuit board, send a signal to the computer, create a programming language is my biggest benefit of this device.

About comparing my finished installation with other similar works, I decided to find a installation which is similar in content to my work.

<Ice Watch>

Alarm clock. (Martin Argyroglo / Studio Olafur Eliasson)

This installation was created by Olafur Eliasson at the UN Climate Summit (COP21) in Pairs.Ice Watch, as Eliasson's craft establishment before the Panthéon is called, is contained twelve enormous, liquefying ice rocks situated in a round plan to look like a clock. Created with geologist Minik Thorleif Rosing, Eliasson's venture is intended to be a chilling update that time is running out for significant activity to capture environmental change.“I hope [this] work of art can actually bridge the gap between the data, the scientists, the politicians and heads of state and how normal people feel,” Eliasson told Reuters. (Quito, 2017) 

This project and my work are both to express environment protection. My focus is that human beings are the main reason for global warming, while he want to show that we should not waste the time to protect the environment from now on.Compared to the virtual effect I do, the real iceberg can be more intuitive to let people know and understand the melting of the iceberg,howeve, lacks interactivity.

Greg Laden's Blog. (2017). Global Warming: Getting worse. [online] Available at: http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2015/05/04/global-warming-getting-worse/ 

Quito, A. (2017). To confront climate change, an artist has put melting icebergs in the center of Paris. [online] Quartz. Available at: https://qz.com/565451/to-confront-climate-change-an-artist-has-put-melting-icebergs-in-the-center-of-paris/