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THOMAS S. EVANS

​寄集め

海への祭壇, 2016

海への祭壇とは、Bombay Beach Biennaleと言う南カリフォルニアにあるBombay Beachのシャッタータウンで開催される芸術祭りの元年に紹介された作品だ。町が沿っているSalton Seaは偶然に作られた「海」で、農薬が集まって、魚が毎年増えると死ぬ。その死体は浜に浮かんでくる。

お客は自由に自分の結論を取れるため、この「祭壇」は説明やプレート無しで浜に沿って設置された。

写真:Josh Franklin, Alan Kozlowski, Tanmay Chowdhary, Thomas S. Evans

Prototype Creation game box. The box offers a printed copy of the game rules and storage for paper (within a hollow inside the diagonal beam), the rulebook, pencils and pens etc., and favorite objects. Photo by Scott Evans.

万物, 2015

Creation is a preliminary investigation into rules for a game that utilizes everyday objects as its game pieces. There is no predetermined "board," but rather a grid with alterable dimensions. Players create godlike characters. These "deities" are responsible for the creation of a new world. This is accomplished by placing outside objects into the area of play, with each deity offering interpretations of the objects that accord with their personal powers. The stories players tell about the things they do with the objects they choose form the basis of a new creation myth as the game progresses.

Creation offers an opportunity to recognize new worth in the mundane objects around us, and helps us get in touch with the deep link between the formulation of value and the creative process. The game was partially intended to be playable, but was also partially intended to be byzantine in its complexity and breadth of customizability. The original Creation is closer to design piece than accessible entertainment in this regard, but its general instructions offer a launchpad for any variety of simpler games that utilize its basic concepts.

Legend [物語], 2016

Legend is a game that maintains the core concepts of Creation and repackages them in a simpler and more straightforward ruleset. The focus in Legend is on giving players a greater sense of creative freedom by more explicitly defining interactions between gamepieces: players are free to interpret objects in any way they like, but must assign the object one of several categories. The categories define the object's gameplay function, but do not otherwise restrict freeform descriptions of how or in what way the object fulfills that function.

(Full rules and other information for Creation and Legend can be found here)

Moon Lamp, 2017 [prototype]

The Moon Lamp is an experiment in reducing packaging waste and exploring the virtues of readily available recyclable materials to create functional designs. The "base" of the lamp is its original box, into which all components can fit.

 

While a laser-cut version would be more precise in its aesthetics, the prototype demonstrates the simplicity and reproducibility of the design, avoiding complex joints. Aside from the Japanese paper used in this prototype as a shading element, anyone with some leftover cardboard, a little time, and a bulb and socket could produce their own version.

 

While the virtues of a self-packaging product are not apparent from a waste perspective when assembled independently, the design is still useful in offering a straightforward means of dissembly and transport - a feature commonly lacking in DIY cardboard lamps such as this.

Hotel: Three Inspirations from Japan, 2018 [proposal]

Hotel is a collection of hotel proposals inspired by various cultural sources from Japan. The pamphlet was created in response to a job application prompt, but as some of the proposals can be investigated on an informal basis in the preliminary stages, the pamphlet serves as an outline for future research and creation. Full research process proposals are forthcoming.

Two rubrics guided proposal development. One establishes categories for lodging types with "regulated/anarchic" and "independent/immersive" axes. The other defines the value of a new concept in more general terms, according to three criteria: the novelty of the concept, the existing interest or appeal of the concept, and its value for society. The rubric declares that if at least two of these criteria are not met, an idea is probably not worth pursuing.

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