Hello. Mexico City was fun! We had a lovely time at the wedding, met some very interesting people, danced to a lot of reggaeton, and had some absolutely fantastic food. I was surprised by how many amazing restaurants there are in Mexico City the first time I visited. I've had some of the best seafood of my life there! We got to eat at Masala Y Maiz for the first time this time, and also made our regular visit to Entremar, the sister restaurant to Contramar that has mostly the same menu and is much easier to get into. Yum yum yum. I felt the most confident I probably ever have speaking in Spanish, and maybe felt even more compelled to do so than usual because there seems to be a huge increase in white people in Mexico City in the last couple years. I am obviously part of that, but I want to be the least possible part of that I can be to be honest!
Since coming home, and frankly a little before the trip as well, I've been in kind of a funk, and I think it's because I don't have a big project in progress. Last night I took a long walk and started really thinking about my next installation. I alluded to this a couple weeks ago, but it's an animatronic scene that will sit in the front yard for a couple weeks. Like a mini version of what I do at Halloween, but not tied to any particular holiday.
The story I have in mind is one I started developing in a Third Rail workshop two years ago, about a small town that's coming together to put on a big wedding and a kid who wants to help but doesn't know how. The version I designed in the workshop was interactive and immersive, and I'd like to realize that someday, but for now I'm just exploring the themes and art design.
Physically, it'll be inspired by a paper theater, lots of layers and depth, but the characters will move, and there will be lights and sound. I'm imagining a "stage" that's about four feet wide, three feet tall, and maybe two feet deep. I'm not sure exactly, though, so the next thing is to design this pretty carefully on the computer, then see what I'm working with. I'll create a full-scale cardboard prototype like I did for Bobby's Birthday to make sure I'm moving the right direction, but before that I'm planning to plop the 3D model in the yard with AR.
iPhone has AR features built in—you might have used it before to see what an IKEA dresser looks like in your bedroom or something—and I found an open-source iOS app that will allow me to load up an arbitrary model and look at it superimposed over a live camera feed, so I can walk around and check it out from various angle. This way I can confirm that the dimensions I'm planning will actually fit in the spot in the yard I have in mind and adjust as needed before committing to any materials.
One thing I can't accurately picture is how thick the borders of the interior layers will need to be so that the sightlines from the sidewalk can't see straight through the side of the stage. Not sure I described that in a way that makes sense. It will be clearer when I have some stuff finished to look at. Maybe next week!