1 in 4
An installation commissioned by Light Up Poole and in collaboration with Zetamotion. Funded by arts council England, and Digital Catapult.
I in 4 is an interactive lighting-based installation that centres on the compelling statistic that one in four people will suffer from a mental health related issue in any one year. In a symbolic and participative way, it explores the notion that by breaking taboos, dissolving labels and truly ‘connecting’ with those who suffer, we can make all difference. The installation uses four trees in close proximity. All are lit in a unique way, but one is obviously in poor health. Through the use of voice-over, soundscape and sensor technology visitors are encouraged to go to the unhealthy tree, connect with it and make it healthy again.
We were tasked with creating an installation around the theme ‘Spectrum’ and were given a location filled with trees. Our sub-theme was to apply ‘spectrum’ to society and as a company that look at mental health we followed that path. We went with ‘1 in 4’ as we ourselves were stunned by the fact that a quarter of the UK’s population lives with a mental health illness at any one time.
In terms of the final experience we were desperate to move away from the usual sadness and solemnity that this topic usually comes with and instead aimed at promoting kindness and compassion. By getting our guests to ‘help’ the poorly tree and making a simple game out of finding the next poorly tree we felt that adults and children alike could understand and experience something that usually resides in very clinical settings.
On this project we worked with a company called Zeta Motion who provided all the sensor technology.
The second half of our task was to collect data on the guests that passed through the installation. We decided early on that it might be interesting to record how our guests interacted with the trees. This meant that both the key element to how the experience works and the data collection were inherently the same thing.
The available data is fascinating and we very much look forward to working with them again to develop this project further.
For more on Zetamotion visit them here.