Category: Technology

Conception of Echo Chamber of Regrets

Posted on by Priti Patel

I had the letter writing project in mind 8 years ago, and planned to ask people to write letters of their regrets. It’s now found its way to me to help me express what I need to during this grieving process.

The idea of having an echo chamber came to mind a few days after experiencing Haroon Mirza’s brilliant The Apavilion of Then and Now, at the Ikon gallery in 2018. Watching this video has brought back my experience clearly.

Due to the darkness, it felt like I was walking into the unexpected. I might be wrong, but I remember the floor of the corridor to be at a slight angle, which added to the uneasiness of the experience. I didn’t know what I was walking into. I remembered the walls to be made of black rubber spikes.

There were moments of darkness and then the circular LED light buzzed and appeared. It was a small enclosed space, so it felt very intimate. I felt an uneasiness with the buzzing of the light as well. It had a very powerful effect on me, and I was engulfed in the experience.

The room initially reminded me of my Morse code concept room …. . .-.. .–. (Help). I remember thinking it would work as an installation.

…. . .-.. .–. 2017

I loved the whole exhibition and felt very excited by it. Still do. It was 6 years ago but I remember it clearly. It’s inspiring to see how Haroon uses materials and technologies to best express the ideas he wants to convey. This is how I try to work as well.

I equated the echo chamber to being our mind, and I imagined people’s regrets being heard as echoes. I planned to ask if they would record their voices expressing their regrets, and I would use them in the installation.

I also felt it might be a cathartic experience for the people to express their regrets in the open. They could do it anonymously so they could speak freely.

I know with myself, some regrets have stayed with me and still haunt me when they come to mind. There’s guilt, shame and an uneasiness attached to them as well. They echo like ghosts, but the emotions and feelings of regret are still quiet raw. Perhaps it’s because they haven’t been processed.

I now have so many new regrets that keep churning and echoing in my mind and stomach, especially during the last few days together. I just wish I could put it right and let you know how truly and deeply sorry I am.

My letter, Your Final Act of Love and Kindness expresses my deepest regrets. I will extract the realisations, make recordings of them and take it from there.

I am now limited as to how to actualise my concepts. Being confined to the bed and needing to lie down, means most of my ideas will be done and expressed on my phone and laptop.

I found this excellent video showing how echoes in caves can be created, using the sound software Steinberg Nuendo 12. It’s given me the confidence to know that I can create the right sound effects of an echo chamber.

When I imagined the concept 6 years ago, it was an echo you’d hear in a cave. This type of echo still feels right for what I want to express. I think it’s because it has a haunting quality to it. Regrets can haunt us…

Haroon sound proofed The Apavilion of Then. I would need to do the same if I was to create an installation of the echo chamber. This would ensure that the sound of people entering and being in the space, would not create their own echoes and interfere with the echoes of the sound installation.

PTSD – The Thoughts That Bypass Our Consciousness

Posted on by Priti Patel

After experiencing COVID-19 severely, I will be looking at PTSD, particularly the thoughts and emotions that bypass our consciousness during times of trauma. Those thoughts and emotions are trapped in a box, and triggers spark their release.

So many people suffer in silence with PTSD, and what I hope to do is give a glimpse into what happens and how it affects the brain. Sadly, many people are going to suffer from PTSD caused directly or indirectly by COVID-19.

Writing is an integral part of my practice, and I will be using this, along with therapy, as a therapeutic tool to connect with the thoughts and feelings I have repressed during my recent traumatic experience. This will help me reconnect and work through and process my own trauma.

Initial Visual Thought

During a therapy session last year, I couldn’t vocally say the words that I knew were there. I couldn’t say how I felt. They’d been repressed for decades.

I explained to my therapist that I had a visual image of the words gently moving in a huge block of glass. It was like a monolith. The words were contained in the glass. My therapist responded by saying, the glass is transparent, so the words are not hidden.

This came to mind when I thought about my recent traumatic experience, which resulted in me developing PTSD again. I need to simulate a trigger that causes the display to become volatile.

The Looking Glass – 3D Holographic Display

Using such a large block of glass as I imagined would be practically and financially unviable. Scaling it down I feel the ideal medium is The Looking Glass, which is a 3D holographic display. It looks like a block of glass, it can display a 3D visuals and it can be interactive as well. It has all the elements I would need.

The Looking Glass – front
The Looking Glass – side

The 3D visuals would result from the thoughts and feelings that arise from therapy and writing. The words could be floating or moving gently within the glass.

A trigger is anything that reminds the person and the brain of the trauma experienced, and it can be something that is completely unrelated. The trigger can be a person, situation, thing or event, which causes the person to experience the same level of emotions, such as fear and distress, as they did during the time of the trauma.

They are immediately transported back in time to the trauma and forced to relive it with all the raw emotions. During that moment it feels real, as if it is happening in the present.

All these things have been repressed and contained in that box/part of the brain. The brain hasn’t been able to process the trauma so all the thoughts and feelings connected with the trauma are stuck or frozen in that moment in time.

Since triggers are an external factor, I feel the ideal way to express this is by using the interactive element of the looking glass. Thinking about the current social distancing measures, I would need to use a sensor that doesn’t require the viewer to touch the display screen. For example, if someone comes too close to it, it could cause the display to become volatile. It has been triggered by that person.