Purva is an Architect and Designer who has worked within the field of architecture, interiors, set design and furniture. Her professional career enabled her to have a collaborative and critical approach towards design.
She enjoys working with people across different disciplines, allowing her to explore and bring in a multidisciplinary mindset into her practice . Her work during her Masters at the Royal College of Art has primarily been on research driven interactions.
EcoFiction is a project in form of an installation as the culmination of my interests and research into nature. In specific, I question and explore our expectations as humans from the planet and themes in human-centric viewership. Starting by looking at the spatial set up of zoos, the locus of my research became the sound experience on animal viewership and experience. My process of studying foley (the making of sound effects) relating to animals included exploration of sounds created by the friction of different materials. The research grew into an installation based live performance experienced in the dark.
My academic and professional life have shaped my desire to be an environmentally sensitive designer. From architecture, I have a keen focus on functionality which informs my design practice. I try to question my purpose as a designer and understand the responsibility of being one. My love of nature nature has been a significant motivation for my work. I enjoy working on experimental concepts that highlight things from a different perspective and generate discussion.
Eco-fiction is an audio-sensory installation experience designed to explore realities of confinement, and their impact on captive animals within the zoo industry through reflecting on the authenticity of nature that we see around us. 90% of sound in nature documentaries is recreated in sound studios, often over-dubbing the reality of the encroachment of human habitats into those of wild animals.
Simultaneously, in Zoos, interactions between captive animals and human visitors which are seen as ‘communication’ between species, are often displays of distress. The project unveils the spatial injustice of captivity through audio trickery and foley, to skew the way we perceive the authenticity of nature.
The project which started with research driven exploration of mental health in large captive animals termed Zoochosis, now reflects on it and talks about spacial injustice through audio trickery to skew the way we perceive the space. The purposeful use of elements from the animals natural habitat shields the reality of the animals condition. The experience takes you into a space that immerses you into a zoo. You stand in a room with gorillas on the other side of the glass.
The installation reflects on a few different things – besides spacial injustice it also reflects on our perception of nature and how it is heavily curated by us. Set in a dark space are sounds of nature, where visitors navigate the area through hearing. The end of the performance is a reveal of the foley objects. The image illustrates how the performers sit within a space while the viewers experience the sounds.
Photographed below are some of the objects used to create the sounds. WIP2021 gives more information on the art of foley and the types of materials used (click the link below).
Photography by Tian Gao
Performance by Vanice Cheung
Conceptual images showing the formation leading up to the installation. The image shows sounds heard through the performance as a visual guide denoting the time that each object is being played. It then shows how the speakers translate that sound within the space the guests experience.
Dynamic and playful experiments working with sounds recording with low tech equipments.
Featuring : Filipe Magalhaes, MengTian Zhang and Blake Carlson-Joshua
