2. Title: Overwhelming Expectations
This one would be my ctuttered head. It would also have sound that would play to just be a lot of information. I was thinking I could use my voice and also have music playing in my head. The voice would be talking about things I need to do, and it would be talking about little insecurities that cross my mind as I try to operate in my day-to-day.
This idea would focus on the feeling of being overwhelmed. This one would have more light. This one is about the Adhd that brings another layer to the cayos and stress. Not always being able to focus on what I need to do. Just a major input of information.
It would be a cave, of course, ADA-accessible. This would be the structure that I would build on. and it would be collapsible 2ith folding gears.
3. This one is a wall of different textures. opening little doors or having different little slots open. (maybe also in different shapes)
First Idea
This project came from trying to help people experience a space in a way that most people don’t. This project will heavily involve research and reaching out to members of the blind community. The project involves me searching for prejudice and ignorance in people and myself as well. Originally, I wanted to create a space where sight is not part of the experience to understand blindness as a disability. Experiencing one that is not my own. People tend to be self-obsessed and focus on themselves. I find myself falling victim to this as well. I'm hoping that creating this experience would help me understand this perspective more. Since this is a disability, I also like the idea that viewers can experience a space that isn’t meant for them- that viewers can live in a world for a brief moment that others do their entire life.
Besides the work of trying to spread awareness of others, this experience is also going to hopefully help people experience life in a way that is usually not the way we typically do. As a society, we often view art, but this room is going to take that sense and put it in a coma for a bit. This experience is going to focus on the other senses, specifically touch, hearing, and smell (not sure about smell and taste because some are sensitive to smell, and I don’t know how I could incorporate taste)
Maybe this piece will also help people consider other people's position, and be a bit more understanding of those and thankful for their abilities.
The space will be a dark room that is filled with idioms in a museum-like atmosphere. (maybe) The collection of tactile works may include an iron vibrator, sculpted faces made from materials like iron, wax, or paper(faces might as well be of other animals like a for or something of the sort, and found not created), textured oil paintings, unusual sculptures, found objects, and familiar items such as a stuffed animal. Each object is chosen for its tactile qualities—texture, temperature, weight, and form—rather than visual appearance. There will also be a book and maybe a few other things that don’t have value to them without their sight.
The central aim of this work is to focus on senses beyond sight. Art is commonly created for visual experience; this installation searches for what happens when the feeling is the connection to the space. It encourages participants to calm down and focus on exploring the space through touch and consider how access to art is dependent on sensory ability.
Ultimately, I would like to create a space that doesn’t involve a site to experience it. If it is appropriate to connect the space to disability, I will do that. If it is not them, I will focus on experiencing a space that just doesn’t involve sight.
My second idea
My disability has been a source of many of my insecurities, and I’ve spent a lot of time questioning myself, wondering if I’m good enough, if I’ve reached some invisible standard, and trying to prove myself. I know I’m not alone in these feelings.I am learning to push back against the people and the inner voices that degrade me. I want to take that pain and anger and release it, turning it into something meaningful and even beautiful. By doing that, I hope others can feel free to confront their own internal thoughts too, by writing them out, facing them, and letting them go instead of letting them hold power
This piece invites participants into a room where they can confront the voices and narratives they carry in their minds. Viewers are asked to write down the internal thoughts, doubts, or criticisms they are struggling with on a large sticky note and pin it to the wall, making private experiences visible. After this, they are given a choice: they can write a message directly on a water balloon and throw it at the wall, or they can roll up their note and tie it to the balloon. The act of throwing or releasing the balloon becomes a symbolic gesture of letting go and challenging those internal narratives. As more people participate, the space grows into a collective display of vulnerability, reflection, and release.
Skylee,
You are clearly working from a place of honesty, and I respect that. Both of your ideas are rooted in lived experience and a desire to help others. That matters.
However, these are not simple installations. They require ethical clarity, safety planning, and conceptual precision.
Let’s separate them.
Idea 1: Dark Room / Blindness Experience
Your intention to explore senses beyond sight is thoughtful. But you need to be extremely careful when framing this around disability.
Creating a temporary “blind experience” for sighted viewers can easily become:
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Simulation rather than understanding
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Reduction of blindness to lack
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A momentary novelty experience
If you pursue this, I would suggest:
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Avoid presenting it as “experiencing blindness.”
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Frame it as “de-centering sight” instead.
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Do not claim it gives insight into living with blindness.
That distinction matters.
Also, structurally:
Right now it reads as a collection of tactile objects in a dark room. That’s not yet installation — that’s an exhibit.
Ask yourself:
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What is the spatial system?
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How does someone move?
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Is there a threshold?
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Is there guidance?
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Is there risk?
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How is safety handled?
Blindfolds introduce liability. Complete darkness introduces safety concerns. Objects like iron or sculpted heads in darkness introduce tripping hazards.
This idea needs much tighter structural planning if it moves forward.
Idea 2: Rage / Release Room
This one is emotionally clear — but logistically explosive.
Water balloons with paint.
Sugar glass.
Punching bags.
Bobo dolls.
Filming participants.
That is not just installation — that is an event with serious safety, cleanup, and liability concerns.
Also conceptually, ask:
Is this about healing?
Or is it about spectacle?
If the room becomes chaotic destruction, the message could shift from vulnerability to aggression.
You do not need ten rage activities. That dilutes focus.
If you pursue this direction, simplify dramatically:
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One action.
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One surface.
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One release mechanism.
For example:
Write the thought.
Pin it.
Choose to remove it or leave it.
That alone could be powerful.
Once you introduce shattering glass and hitting objects, the work shifts from introspection to adrenaline.
Bigger Question
Both of your ideas rely heavily on participation.
Ask yourself:
If no one participates, does the installation still hold meaning?
Strong installation can stand on its own and be activated by participation — not depend entirely on it.
What I Would Encourage
Between the two, the sensory / de-centering sight idea is conceptually stronger — but only if reframed ethically and structurally.
The rage room idea risks becoming messy, unsafe, and conceptually scattered.
Right now, I need you to:
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Choose one direction.
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Remove excess elements.
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Define a clear system.
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Think about safety and cleanup.
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Think about how this reads to someone who does not know your backstory.
Your work is strongest when it is focused and intentional. Both of these ideas need editing.
Between your two ideas, I think the sensory / de-centering sight direction is conceptually stronger. But I want to explain why — and also what needs to shift for it to work.
Right now, the power of that idea is not in “simulating blindness.” It’s in questioning how dependent we are on sight — especially in art spaces. That’s a strong conceptual inquiry. It challenges hierarchy of senses. It asks what art becomes when vision is removed.
That’s interesting.
However, where it gets complicated is when it is framed as “understanding blindness as a disability” or “living in someone else’s world.” A temporary dark-room experience cannot replicate the lived experience of blindness. If we present it that way, it risks reducing something complex to a brief exercise.
What makes the idea strong is not simulation.
It’s reorientation.
If you reframe it as:
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What happens when sight is de-centered?
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What does touch, sound, and spatial awareness do to perception?
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How does art function without visual dominance?
Then the work becomes about sensory hierarchy and access — not about “trying on” disability.
The other piece of this is structure. Right now the idea is a collection of tactile objects in darkness. For it to be installation, it needs:
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A clear system of movement.
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A safe navigation plan.
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Intentional object selection.
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A defined spatial logic.
If we refine both the ethical framing and the spatial structure, this idea has depth and rigor.
That’s why I think it’s stronger — it has conceptual weight. It just needs clarity and responsibility.
Naming the Concern
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Darkness = safety risk
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Blindfolds = liability
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Iron objects in a dark room = injury
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Rope with knots guiding movement = tripping hazard
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Found objects in darkness = unpredictability
Im not unsure conceptually, I'm unsure practically.
Second: You Do not need total darkness
If you keep the idea, it must shift from:
“Blindness simulation”
to
“Reduced visual dominance.”
That could look like:
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Extremely low light, not pitch black
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Dim red light or twilight level visibility
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Controlled tactile surfaces attached to walls
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No loose objects
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No blindfolds
That alone makes it manageable.
Third: The Installation Needs a System
Right now you have:
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Objects in darkness
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Rope with knots
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Heads made of different materials
That’s not a system.
A simplified structure could be:
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One continuous wall installation
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Tactile panels mounted at chest height
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Low light
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Sound element
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Clear entrance + exit
No loose objects.
No iron heads in the middle of the floor.
No blindfolds.
Fourth: It May Still Be Too Big
And here’s the honest possibility:
This might still not be the right project for this timeline.
And that’s okay.
I think this idea is intellectually strong, but it may not be structurally feasible within our timeline and safety constraints. Let’s refine it or consider a scaled version.
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