TF/16-17
Projects supported in 2016-17.
Hayley Bruford and Lilias Adair
‘Service with her Smile’ is an investigation into the emotional labour that is required of those who operate within the service industry. We approached this by deconstructing repeated elements of the performance of labour and redesigning them, using the material cultures within those spaces. We used Taylorism - a model of efficiency that was used in manual labour spaces after WW1 - to look into the efficiency of the service worker script, as a character or persona that becomes saturated over time. One such persona we focussed on was the flight attendant, specifically in terms of their script; the service with a smile, and their physical performance of work.
Whilst initially investigating this through representations in popular culture, The Tom Fund enabled us to experience first-hand a short British Airways flight attendant training course. Without this opportunity our understanding of the industry would have been based on assumptions and generic social understanding of the role. The fund supplied an enriched experience of the expected occupational performance in the airline service industry which has been imperative to the project development.
The training enabled us to both experience a corporate training system which asks one to edit yourself into a stereotypical character. It’s this self editing and curating, for a job, that our project critiques. Moreover, the experience of having to perform ourselves, whilst attending the course has become an incredibly meaningful and poignant moment in our project research. As serious as it all sounds, it was also just a fascinating experience, learning about different planes, emergency landings, survival skills and of course meeting all the interesting people that were aspiring to become BA flight attendants - it really was brilliant.
As you might expect, with the good there comes the bad, and for us there have been some moments of struggle and doubt within the project, however The Tom Fund gave us something incredibly enriching and poignant - not just for our project but also for us as designers, beginning to engage in the world through the material we create and we’re incredibly grateful for it.
Raoni Azevedo
In this project I worked with the telling one's own story as a path for self reflection. I looked into the way our collective imaginarium is crowded with alien fictions, be them from Hollywood, politics, or Netflix. Even though we amplify our 'selves' on social media, our stories never reach the same level of production, creative consideration or spectacle that these external narratives get. Inspired by Don Quixote I wanted to look for the spectacle in my own story, overriding reality with my ideals. So I used design to craft my self narrative as a Hollywood movie, with a crew formed by close ones; designing sets, casting characters, reliving key moments, writing the storyline, battling giants and windmills. Having to continuously retell my story; ingenious like Quixote, spectacular like Hollywood. But just as in Cervante's book, reality is a tough contender, putting every dream to the test, making the outcomes deeply ambiguous.
My name is Raoni Azevedo, I'm a 27 year-old Design student from Brazil and Tom's Fund helped me return to the UK to present at Goldsmiths the project I started six months before. This has been an intense process of self-reflection and through the making of the film it has also impacted a number of other people, from Rio to London, clashing both realities.
Gabriella de Rosa
Nature is intrinsically woven into our lives; our survival depends on the survival of our environment. However, humanity’s lost connection with nature has corroded the biological diversity of our Earth. It seems indisputable that human activities are the immediate cause for biodiversity loss. Therefore, solutions should be found within the context of our own behaviour.
Human Nature is an article of living fashion that enables humans to become agents of biodiversity within the concrete jungle, in order to promote London’s native environment. The living clothing incorporates UK native seeds and plants into the design, that address the biodiversity issues London is currently facing.
The Tom Fund enabled me to fully immerse myself within my concept, providing me with the opportunity to investigate the specific UK native plant species my concept depends on. My project is centred around the significance of a coexistence with nature, influenced by the site-specific, biodiversity science of London. Therefore, without your funding, I would not have been able to explore this core aspect of my work and relate my scientific research to my final outcome.
I really appreciate your generosity and the help you provided with my project, thank you so much for your kindness.
William Francis
Mike is a project revealing the unrealistic fantasies of adverts. To do this I created a character completely shaped by sports adverts and brands, more specifically Nike. I picked Nike because the branding is aimed so heavily at me, a 21 year old man, so I feel I have throughout my life been sold the Nike lifestyle. Therefore it seemed like a logical idea to form the character Mike. Mike believes he is in an advert at all times, everything he does must be advert quality and he must be the sporty star of the show.
I used the Tom Fund to move this character from story boards and my own performances by employing an experienced actor called Liam Duffy to perform as Mike. This was an essential part of my project as I find acting very anxiety inducing. With the help of Liam Duffy I was able to make a short film called Mike, this film directly exposes the unrealistic fantasies and expectations created by adverts, it shows what Mike thinks of himself, how he appears in reality and the adverts he bases himself on.
Lauren Davies
Nature is intrinsically woven into our lives; our survival depends on the survival of our environment. However, humanity’s lost connection with nature has corroded the biological diversity of our Earth. It seems indisputable that human activities are the immediate cause for biodiversity loss. Therefore, solutions should be found within the context of our own behaviour.
Human Nature is an article of living fashion that enables humans to become agents of biodiversity within the concrete jungle, in order to promote London’s native environment. The living clothing incorporates UK native seeds and plants into the design, that address the biodiversity issues London is currently facing.
The Tom Fund enabled me to fully immerse myself within my concept, providing me with the opportunity to investigate the specific UK native plant species my concept depends on. My project is centred around the significance of a coexistence with nature, influenced by the site-specific, biodiversity science of London. Therefore, without your funding, I would not have been able to explore this core aspect of my work and relate my scientific research to my final outcome.
I really appreciate your generosity and the help you provided with my project, thank you so much for your kindness.
Tom Robinson
Throughout my final year I have been working on the first implementation of real time virtual reality, a system which transports a user to a new world and a portal to an alien environment.
Everyone knows that algorithms exist, they rule our social media lives - but how do they work?
Everyone knows it’s logical to assume that we’re not the only planet which sustains intelligent life in the universe - but where are the aliens?
This project aims to explain algorithms through attempting to create an experience of alien existence. The user becomes the alien to the outside world, whilst the world they interact with through the headset is their own alien environment. The algorithm in this work is the software that transfers individual depth points captured through the headset into a single mesh which can then be seen by the user, making it clear how computer generated environments are created.
This system is also the world’s first implementation of real time virtual reality, opening up the possibility of living fully inside a virtual world for the very first time, along with giving the computer industry the opportunity to create truly limitless computer generated environments.
The Tom Fund has allowed me to create this system by providing me with the funding to get my own VR headset which is the key component, before this I was having to guess and hope that what I had created would work but once I got hold of the headset I was able to complete my project and get in touch with industry and media in order to spread the project further in a more professional manner.
Jin Seung Jang
Basically, my project is about changing our perception of people’s faces and appearances which causes discriminations. Machines and technologies on face recognition are in the centre of our lives and also discrimination, at the same time, it does have the power to recreate our perception. Therefore, by deconstructing and reconstructing the system using machines could possibly contribute to the transition of the mindset taking out out unconscious consciousness that interrelated to diverse social and cultural issues.
The fund was used for purchasing several machines that are directly connected to the outcome of this project. These machines are a speaker and an oscilloscope. Also the polaroid films were purchased as well in order to document the project. Again, I feel so thankful to receive this fund which has supported this project.
Conner Eastwood
Techno-Psychedelic Therapy (TPT) is a technological form of psychedelic experience that utilises advancing technologies to change and augment physical reality. Responsive uniquely to each user’s brain waves and stress levels, TPT takes an experimental approach to tackling common yet complex mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. Inspired by the institutionalisation of psychedelic drugs as a form of medication for mental health disorders, TPT attempts to revamp the prevalent characteristics of a psychedelic trip through a series of cohesive designed mediums, improved by data gathered from first and third person experiences of psychedelia. Techno- Psychedelic Therapy constructs a unique body and mental experience that not only deeply meditates the user, but is enhanced by its use within the natural world. Technology is becoming embedded deeply within our culture as a species, but as we evolve can we use it to create a future that allows technology and nature to work harmoniously together.
I used the Tom Fund to buy the main working parts of my project: The Oculus DK2 and EEG Brain sensor. From this it enabled me to create a piece that I would have never have expected myself to create. The Tom Fund truly enabled me to achieve something I would have never expected to achieve. My project is based around treating anxiety based disorders, and addressing the age of anxiety that we are in, with the help of the Tom Fund, it has facilitated me to take a huge step towards creating something that genuinely makes a difference.
I’d like to say thank you, to all who were a part of the Tom Fund. What you are doing is truly inspiring and I can’t say thank you enough.