Size – 2800x2800x2800mm / Materials – Angles, Wire mesh, Optical fiver, LED, Kitting wool, Cotton, Sponges
Project
The Hugging Cube
Type
Interaction Design / Installation Art
Context
Guidance from Youngkuk Yoo / Team Project with Mansoo Han, Jimin Song, Jimin Ahn, Sam Shin / Summer 2015
THE HUGGING CUBE
We all go through life with different worries and troubles. Likewise, we all deal with these worries in our own way. Some find solace in conversation with friends, others lean on family for support, and some, like me, eat our emotions in the shape of our favourite foods. After considering the various ways people comfort themselves, my team and I thought it was unnecessary to provide a verbose explanation of the word “healing”. “The Hugging Cube” delivers the message that ‘A hug heals more than ten words’. Our designed interaction emulates the characteristics of people we can lean on in times of need.
Process
Confined spaces may often be framed as suffocating or scary, but in fact, confinement can be a source of comfort, as newborns have when they are wrapped tightly to imitate conditions inside the womb. By creating a restricted space on an open rooftop, we emphasized the boundaries of the installation’s form. We hung thousands of strands of yarn to isolate our visitors’ visual and touch sensations, providing a personal space where “One hug heals more than ten words”. By laying sponges and cotton on the floor, we were able to underline the experience with a pleasant soft and bouncy sensation. In the evening, the optical fiber ends integrated with the yarn strands would shine like stars, and especially as the installation was situated on a rooftop, this would give the illusion that the cube was larger than it actually was.
