the design.
a Stack of intra active becomings
space, place and things
toolkits for the anthroposcene /
a set of play-think-feel art and design tools to trigger purposive creations
Design research conducted through 2018-20 led to the creation of two course-prototypes
Phase I:
prototyping legacies in multi species play healing through game design
Phase II: new normal sensing workshops
the incredible machine
Purpose: conceptually dynamic project design course adapting a blend of methods: futures/foresight, embodied sensemaking and design thinking to explore alignment with emerging forms of collective intelligence.
Duration: 5 weeks, offered twice a year, open to all but better suited for adults in arts, humanities and creative science professions
bodiescities
Purpose: game design for intersectional place-making using sensory, sociopolitical and generational knowledge making practices to deepen game designs, and contribute to emerging collective intelligence related to civic issues.
Duration: 6 - 8 weeks, modules designed for young adults and adults
m’s role:
concept & design: research, design and development of tools.
project growth: network development, fundraising and brand management.
new media: sing the body elektrk, 2021
[work in progress]
interactive digital art and music node as an emerging cultural sensemaking map
Concept
Our digitally embodied lives need new content spaces. STBE is a playable space experimenting with what a mixed media content sharing spaces can look like.
Purpose
Offer fun and interactive ways to link micro and macro life experiences through art and music.
Link to sing the body Elektrk in the ART section.
m’s role: concept and strategy, art, interaction design.
new media: bodies cities VR, 2018
take a walk where the body entangles with the city
Materials: oculus rift, virtual space designed with the Unity game engine | duration: 5 minutes
Role: research design, concept, direction, visualization
Concept
Our bodies are immersed and entangled in the spaces we occupy, and how we‘see’, ‘hear’, or ‘feel’ a city is an embodied experience. Taking virtual reality (VR) to be an enfolding surface, this sensory ethnographic work entangled across living, non-living and digital matter, explores the sensemaking affordances that lie between human bodies and the city.
The interactive VR experience maps the multiple realities as a layered morphology of embodied sense makings that emerge from a human’s subjective experiences of public urban space.
Purpose
This work explored and adapted a human centered sensory ethnography tool set for urban spatial design research creation. Research and VR interaction design reflects the complexity of sensory knowledge making, ethical practices in immersive design and Indigenous cultural legacies of space and place.
Urban knowledge makers: Viji Murugaiyah, Elder Gary Sault
Technical advice/dev support at stages: Sophia Niergarth, Jonathan Carroll
app design prototypes
various, 2017-19
UX and UI experiments for apps exploring life with dementia, museum experiences, naturecultures game play.
m’s role: concept, interaction design, research, UX and UI
the living room, art installation
Royal Ontario Museum, 2017
I provided user experience design, exhibit installation, and coordination support to the team as we designed, tested and installed The Living Room exhibit. The work incorporated a long term design of a physical artefact (the living room), using projection mapping to bring the concept a living culture of family photography, to life.
The Living Room was a part of the ROM's Canada 150 celebrations. It was on display at the Royal Ontario Museum from 6 May to 29 October, 2017.
Creators: Samaa Ahmed, Margarita Castro, Bijun Chen, Mudit Ganguly, Jeffrey Garcia, Sara Gazzaz, Afaq Ahmed Karadia, Annette Mangaard, Ania Medrek, Katie Micak, Natasha Mody, Manik Perera Gunatilleke, Maya Wilson-Sanchez, and April Xie.
Video: https://vimeo.com/295486433
new media: back to the future, art installation
Fashion Art Toronto, 2017
Back to the Future was my first art installation and was inspired by retro futurism, my love of fashion and Star Wars. It explores fashion trends influenced by iconic sci-fic films from the past, and uses projection mapping in a fabricated setting to bring trends and icons to life. The work was co-created with projection mapping artist, Kavi.
Video: https://vimeo.com/292035469
designing services, international development
africa & asia, 2003-10
In a six year stint to apply the design of transformative social change design practices, my work brought Oxfam, government actors, and local Partners together to plan transition design strategies that improved community services and offered new ones in local entrepreneurship, health, housing, emergency relief.
Identified business growth challenges, trained entrepreneurs, linked them to government services, markets, and other resource Partners. Worked with government divisions to deliver accessible services to women entrepreneurs.
Led advocacy and raised funds for entrepreneurship development programs (European Union)
Initiated Working with Men strategies to support gender transformation strategies targeting women.
Tools designed /Used
Developed, adapted and trained Oxfam teams and local implementing Partners on business design and economic leadership modules, developed toolkits and trained internal teams on gender transformation strategies for shelter, public health, disaster risk management and other thematic interventions areas.
