Crit-with-Jen by tsvetadi

Making Friends

“The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.”, Jon Holt
“For many people, one of the most frustrating aspects of life is not being able to understand other people’s behavior.”, Uknown
“Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his own image”, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Making Friends is a landmark on a long journey I started towards understanding and illustrating human interaction. This journey began with a frustration with the social and cultural behaviors I was observing and their impact on me as a person and as an artist. Issues such as segregation on racial and financial basis, gentrification, immigration, etc. seemed to tint reality with dark colors. Eventually I moved to a different place, where I observed different situation and experienced a different feeling. There was more happiness around me; it changed the way I perceived the world. This change led to exploration of various topics and mediums – the impact of one’s action over another, the chain reaction effect, communication tools, facial expression, body language and transactions between humans – both verbal and non-verbal, language as a bridge and a as barrier, empathy, sympathy, awareness of one’s actions, encounters with strangers, self-evaluation and so on.

Making Friends took on its shape to deliver the same experience I’ve been going through, to entertain and puzzle at the same time. It talks about the patience one needs to have in order to completely understand and appreciate an entity or an idea. It provides the settings to test and reenact the moments of curiosity, social awkwardness, rejection and acceptance. It explores the issues of trying to connect with others and negotiating the space; it reflects on the general way people react to the unfamiliar or unidentified presence.

Making Friends is an interactive video piece that resembles a place where two strangers might meet. It includes a bench with a mirror placed on the wall. A strange persona exists in the reflection in the mirror. Once a person sits on the bench the mysterious image tries to interact with the person sitting. The scenario of the interaction changes over time and is influenced by the behavior of the user, and, more specifically, by the amount of time the user is interested in participating in the interaction.

Here is one of the examples:

1 by tsvetadi

And another one. The idea behind is that this would play first and after a number of interactions the speech would become understandable.
3 by tsvetadi

Finished making the bench for piece.

Also got plenty of blackout cloth for the frame.