THRASHOLD

From the reading, the medieval carnival was like a threshold. It was a period when the commoner became equal with the royal and people with higher status. The commoners were allowed to be unmannered and impolite without being punished. However, when the carnival was over, people had to return to their life status and face hierarchy and reality.

The studio is a space full of freedom, where ideas can be explored and developed without boundaries or limitations through the collaboration and discussion between students and tutors. While outside the studio, like the courtyard, is a confined space full of reality, where ideas are stuck and limited.

So between the studio and courtyard threshold is the distortion of vision which it obstructs our view and perception of the surrounding.

I wanted to create the distortion of vision through a unexpected torsional space. So once you are inside my threshold, your perception of the surrounding will be distorted.

In 3D's Max i shaped a sphere into a flat square.

I stretched and wrapped the square into an irregular hollow cylinder.

Then twist is applied a to the shape.

This is a view from the inside. The dynamic torsional movement of the surface texture distorts the surrounding view and allowing the avatar to experience 'the moment' - sense of approach and engagement.

I collaborated with crayfishyfishyfishy Manx. His floating fragmented sculpties serves a similar purpose to my idea of distortion and obstruction. However our design was too much like a path way or a tunnel, which is not a very strong threshold.


I changed the placement of my threshold from the courtyard to the inner facade of the studio. The new position is in-between point between courtyard and studio. This make my threshold much more appropriate as the entrance door to the studio is replaced my 'the moment' of my threshold.
In order to make 'the moment' more impactive and unexpected, i applied a change in size and opacity per avatar distance script to my threshold. This makes it unnoticeable at a distance, but as you approach, it becomes more visible and extrudes rapidly to engage you.