Design Statement
By creating a paper-made installation, we want to simulate the formation of a whale’s decomposition process and display the diversity of the ecosystem around a whale fall.
We also want to transform serious scientific process into an enjoyable learning experience by inviting the audience to interact with childish materials.
Making Process
Our initial idea of the installation is using papery material to represent a dead whale's decomposing process under the sea.
According to the research, the process can be divided into three stages. In each stage, a part of the whale will be "eaten" by certain creatures. So we made three layers of the whale, which were its skin, organs, and skeleton. Each layer was connected to certain creature superfamily that take the whale as their food. Once the creature is pulled out by the audience, there is an extra animal card in the middle of the string, which represents a specific branch in this superfamily.
When the audience pulls a string, he/she will have a chance to learn about what the creatures that living in a whale fall are, and how they decompose the whale part by part. Meanwhile, the length of the string is a representation of time scale.
Constraints & Opportunities
Hand-made papercut is fun but lack of accuracy
Let design values decide priorities
Scientific project needs preciseness
Worth to try other materials and maybe laser cutting
References
http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=14657
http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/TN_Family_BUCCINIDAE.shtml
http://www.notesonzoology.com/vertebrates/pisces/representative-types-of-chondrichthyes-vertebrates-chordata-zoology/7846
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_fall#cite_note-CTS_Little-7
https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/baleen-whales/longevity-and-causes-of-death
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/most-whale-deaths-in-past-40-years-were-caused-by-humans/