Box Forts

Creating an environment 

Today we were given the task of creating a space that we could exist within using only cardboard boxes, and with nothing to stick the boxes together. The idea was to create a space on which we could sit and think with little distraction.

I situated myself in one of the far corners of the 2D studio, and created a small space between the stacks of chairs and the walls. 

I started with two cardboard boxes of the same size, which fit comfortably in the small space I had made. I decided to tower them up, because it was the simplest and first method that I thought of. Because the boxes were the same size and were flat, it meant that I didn't have to dismantle them, and could just slot the flaps from each box into each other. 

After towering the two boxes up and covering them with my coat, I realized that the space wasn't tall enough for it to be comfortable, but was still easy to climb out of when the coat was removed, and so I made the decision to use another box.

Luckily I found another box of the same size and type as the other two, which made the construction process a lot easier than trying to find random boxes that fitted together. 

Having the three boxes stacked made t a lot more difficult to get out of, and while the space was quite cramped, I could fit inside it easy enough. I realized however that because of the cramped nature of the save, there wasn't enough space to bring in any of the things I might need, and because of the convenience of having boxes stacked, it meant that two of the flaps at the front of the box could be opened, so I put a chair outside the front of my box and put everything on there. 

After a while of sitting in there, I was told that the coat I was using as the cover went against the idea of the task, so I replaced it was a over of cardboard that was rather long, but had a flap at the end, so I could fold it and slot in behind the box, meaning that I had a stable roof, and that little light could get into the box. I had to move some of the flaps of the box on the top so that less light could get in.

When I sat back down again, I closed the window, to see how much light would come in, and realized that because there was two flaps at the front, only one was necessary to be used as a window, and the other could be used as a shelf of pushed inwards, and would not be in my way or prevent me from sitting comfortably, so I folded it inwards and moved everything off of the chair onto the shelf I had created. This allowed for easier access to my things, as I would not have to open the window to access anything if I needed to. 

I sat within the space until break, but soon realized I had no way out of he box unless I was to pull it apart. Thankfully, at the front was where the box in the middle was joined together, and by pulling the join apart, it meant that I could create a door. This did, however, effect the stability of my box. 

After break, I went about thinking about how it was possible to fix it without pulling it apart in the process. I noticed that it had began to slump on one side, and with some help, I restored the boxes that had fallen down. 

Once I was back in the box again, because of the effort it took to get in and to get comfortable, some of the boxes had slipped again, as well as the shelf, which meant that whatever I put on it would slide off again, so once again with help, I was able to get it in a stable position. Although it wasn't like before, it still worked well. 

While I was in the box, I realized that all sounds had become muted, especially when people were speaking, and yet sudden noises and footsteps seemed a lot louder. All noise made from within the space was a lot clearer and louder, and because there was nothing else to look at, the cardboard became a lot more interesting.

From sitting within he box, I was able to notice patterns on the cardboard that I would never have noticed before that could serve as good inspiration. I also noticed that I was a lot more curious as to what was happening outside the box, and kept trying to look out of the small gaps in between where I had slotted the boxes together. 

After a while of sitting with my legs cross, which was all my space allowed for, one foot began to ache, as well as my knees. 

Eventually, after sitting in the space for a while, I began to notice patterns in the way the light was coming into the box, which was caused from my knocking the box slightly. The patterns were very unusual and interesting, as the light was coming in in lines.

After a while, my legs had started to hurt, so I decided it was a good time to stretch. 

When I came out of the box, the temperature was a lot cooler, and I almost felt dizzy. I also had been so engrossed with the patterns the light had created that I hadn't noticed that other people had come out of their own spaces and were conversing near mine.

Making something out of my experience: 

Using the boxes we had to make the spaces we had made previously, we were asked to make something out of them related to our subject areas. Because I am looking into interactive art, I decided to make a sculpture that would mimic the space I had been in, so that people could sort of experience what I had. 

I decided that rather making another box for people to go into, I wanted to hang it and try to make something that mimicked the patterns the light I had created using gaffatape. 

I found somewhere suitable to hang the box and started by threading some tribe over a metal beam above he space I wanted to work in. 

After getting two pieces of twine over the beam, I cut them to a length that would mean I wouldn't run short of twine if I needed it. 

I punctured holes in the top flaps of one of the boxes on each side at the corners, and threaded the twine through each hole at the respective corners. 

I put two chairs under the box so that it was stable while I was preparing to suspend it. I tied the twine on one side only, so that I could adjust the being before tying it properly. Once I was happy with the height and position of the box, I then threaded the twine though the holes on the opposite corners of the box so that I could start adjusting the position so that it hung straight and not at an angle. I used the chairs I had been using to stable the box previously to act as an anchor while I adjusted everything to my liking. Once I was sure that the box wasn't wonky and was at a height I was happy with, I tied up the ends that had been wrapped around the chairs.

After finally getting the box in place, I decided that I didn't want to use gaffatape as planned, but rather continue with using the twine as I had been doing, and to add another box, so that you had to go under the sculpture to get into it. I wanted it to be extremely awkward to get into, much like my box had been, and so made it so that the top box was reasonably high, but another box I was going to use would be a lot closer to the ground with a gap in between where I would thread twine in a way that mimicked the light that I had seen within the box, while also being similar to the previous experiment using string.

While the pattern I used when applying the twine didn't exactly match the patterns of the light, I felt that it was necessary to have the twine cris-crossing around the opening as it would make the viewer inside wary of how they moved, like I had while I had been sat in the box.

It was a last minute decision to add a chair into the sculpture, as it made it a lot more difficult to get into it, as well as the fact that I wasn't stood in my box, but sat down.

Overall, I am happy with the sculpture I made out of the boxes I had used, however I felt as though it was lacking something. 

Next time I were to do something like this, I would experiment with colour and shape.