Dan McCurley

Modular Emotions

Tags
Making & Fabrication, Interaction & Experience Design, Visual Communication

This project investigates my personal associations of emotion with color, shape and texture. My interest in this investigation comes from my experiences in therapy, EMDR, meditation and yoga nidra. When I quietly observe my own emotions or internal states, they frequently show up as having some kind of form, usually with colors, size and shape and textures or consistency. Sometimes they have a certain type of motion or kinetic quality. I can usually get more clarity on this form by asking the feelings questions, like “How big are you?” or “What do you look like?”

My approach for this project involved 1) creating a set of symbols representing my interpretations of emotions and 2) using those symbols in an interactive, analog experience. The created solution functions as interactive wall art or a freestanding sculpture, which can be rearranged in response to your current feelings.

Materials: laser-cut plywood, 3D printed PLA, acrylic paint

Plywood pegboard with painted shapes, including a red starburst, an orange circle, a black circle and blue arches, above a black tray of spare pieces
Pegboard arrangement of a red starburst above three stacked green bars, with spare pieces in the tray
Pegboard arrangement of a blue S-curve between two orange circles, with a black half circle and purple slanted bars
Pegboard arrangement of purple slanted bars, three green bars, an orange circle and blue curved pieces
Pegboard arrangement of blue arches forming a U shape around an orange circle, with a green bar above and black half circles below
Pegboard arrangement of a red starburst, stacked black half circles, a purple diagonal bar and two green bars
The pegboard mounted on a white brick wall, with a blue curve wrapped around an orange circle above two green bars
The pegboard on a brick wall beside a computer monitor and an 'Iowa, but not forever' flag print
A child arranging red and blue shapes on the pegboard mounted on a wall
A child, face covered by a smiley emoji, standing beside the wall-mounted pegboard with a red starburst and green and blue pieces
Collage of a child arranging the colored shapes on a rug and then placing them on the wall-mounted pegboard