Market day

Market day has arrived! Finally we could put our stall into action with clients. Our set up had multiple posters along with safety instructions. Painters suits on the clothes rack, and goggles on a table outside was the gear ready for our clients to enter The Bubble Shack. Through the strips of fabric as our door, our clients went inside and enjoyed the experience. Giggles, laughter and smiles were seen when exiting the shack, after wiping their feet our clients seemed happy with their experience. 

The shack itself held up really well, the paint sealed the cardboard allowing it to not get damp and the carpet worked quite well but clients did need to wipe their feet a bit when exiting. The suits and goggles got soapy quite quickly, but we had a few spare when new clients came along. The bubble mixture solution lasted the day which was great and we also had a mini fan in the shack to help keep the bubbles going up. 

Setting up our market stall

With the prep work done and the boxes now in the Great Hall, we put the arranged collections of boxes together in formation, and taped them all to each other to create our 'shack'. We then cut holes into sections of the boxes, one high and one low to position the bubble machines in them. We then put a plastic roof over the shack to enclose the bubbles, taping everything down. With a cut sheet for our door, it allowed the stall to be private but easily accessible, and we had a small table made out of boxes outside with the goggles on top, also a rack with the painters suits hung up. Underneath our shack we had a large carpet rug and another mat out the front for customers to wipe their feet properly.

Initial Assessment Post-Market

We felt today was successful in terms of our experience being enjoyed by many people. We were very happy that everything came together successfully and all of our aims, in terms of being enjoying a short, nostalgic experience were met. Many people stayed in the booth for a prolonged period, enjoying the unusual but entertaining experience. We did encounter some trouble in terms of people’s shoes becoming slippery after exiting the area but we made sure that every single person wiped their shoes thoroughly on the mat outside the area that we had provided. We were successful in terms of having plenty of bubble mixture to last throughout the entire market, which was a small concern of ours however this turned out not to be a problem at all. Our experience was free initially, but once we saw that people were willing to donate tokens out of good will we welcomed any donations, and were happy that people thought out experience was worth donating tokens for despite the fact that they were not taking something physical away from it. As thought, our whole stall was very easy to take down, due to it being completely collapsible and recyclable, so our area was easily clear within half an hour of the market closing.

More screen shots from our facebook group

Final Development

Now that we have enough boxes, we put the rest of the 6 collectives together with tape, finished priming them with undercoat paint to 'seal' them, and then covered them in normal white paint so that the inside is all fresh, crisp and clean. After letting them dry in the sun, we took them over to the Great Hall, ready to set up our stall. Putting them together, we had pre-labelled them for which walls they should be on, in the Great Hall is easier for moving them in smaller lots. Then to tape the collectives together will allow the structure to be more stable too.

90 second pitch for the market

You have 90 seconds to pitch your idea / experience / contribution and we will be assessing this pitch on the following criteria:

1. How has your team contribution your added to the overall experience?        /5
eg. Does it fit? Show understanding of context?
eg. How well has it considered the audience/user/market?

2. How well has your contribution been executed?                               /5
eg. Does it have a level of refinement/resolution?
eg. Does it evidence a rigorous process?

3. How innovative/effective is your contribution?                                  /5
eg. Does it show a level of creativity or innovative solution-finding?
eg. Does it have ‘wow’ factor?

The Bubble shack is an innovative art installation experience that allows you to be taken into an enclosed space, and experience something unlike the everyday. With the idea of bubbles constantly blowing at you from multiple directions, we want the person inside the space to experience a different feeling whether that be happiness, nostalgia or become overwhelmed by everything. Our idea is simple in terms of our aim, as we have produced something that is a short experience but something that would definitely not be expected and we hope to bring the person a sense of nostalgia and that they are able to interact with our installation. The use of cardboard boxes was an idea brought about by everything being able to be taken down and recycled easily afterwards. We have thought of many solutions for problems that have arisen and refined our idea to produce a final product we feel reflects our thought processes and what we wanted to achieve. Many things had to change to come to a final solution, and we believe this helped us in finally being able to realise our final product, having an outcome that relates to our nostalgic art installation experience aesthetic.

-innovative art installation experience that takes you into an enclosed space
-takes you out of the everyday
-creates a sense of happiness and nostalgia
-is a playful installation
-cardboard boxes are able to be taken down, we wanted the whole structure to be recyclable
-we have refined all of our ideas down to an original, playful and nostalgic experience that is something different from everything else
-we tested many ideas and processes to successfully contain everything within the area sticking to all health and safety guidelines
-we wanted our audience to experience something quick, playful and enjoyable that makes them want to interact with the whole experience (including the outfits)
-we wanted out idea to come across as very obvious and in your face

Extra planning taken from our facebook group

These are some screen shots of extra planning/organising that was achieved through our facebook page over the last 12 weeks. We used this group to organise tasks set for each person to do with particular things, as well as times for meeting up, what we would post on the blog and things we needed to achieve before the next class.

Further building of structure and testing of bubble machines

Today, we were finally able to put together the rest of out structure, and test the bubble machines within the area properly. We discovered that the insides of the boxes do become slightly damp, so as intended, we began the process of priming the insides with white spray paint to seal the area and protect it from becoming damp. We successfully tested two bubble machines inside the area, and discovered that a lot of bubbles were produced and that we may not even need a third machine. We now need to fully finish priming the inside boxes and make sure out floor (carpet) we have purchased will fit within the area we have. We decided that we would place the bubble machine on opposite sides in order for the bubbles to disperse evenly within the area, and with the one on a the lower level potentially having a small fan to blow them upwards and away from the cardboard. 

Week 10 development

With our idea coming together, our installation, a happening of bubbles.
We have approx 40 boxes at the moment, need about 25 more - before Sunday when we will finish the building of the structure. We also need to get some sand to fill bags to put into the bottom boxes to keep it steady and from moving around. More bubble mixture is needed, we have also tested the bubble machine on it own and have bought a couple of more to have a total of three, and will need to keep an eye on the bubble mixture - topping it up so that the bubbles stay continuous. Carpet for the floor, 1.4 x 1.4 metres to soak in the bubble mixture and also avoid any slips from our clients. Paint/brushes is an idea to 'seal' the boxes on the inside, so they don't get soaked or give way from the bubble mixture and will also give a clean finish and feeling to the inside of the box and the experience. We need to print off a sign and smaller ones to pin onto our painters suits. Our team will be wearing these suits, but they are also for the clients who enter The Bubble Shack, they also have the option of goggles - which will be laid out on a table in front of our cardboard box. Tape for constructing the boxes, as shown below - we taped the boxes back together, so that the boxes are flat and can easily be stacked against one another. We then formed them into groups of 6, 3 wide and 2 high and taped this collective lot together. We made 3 times of these 6 groups per wall, apart from the front. This gave enough height and keeping them separate will be easier for transporting them the night before the market, and then we will tape them all together when we get to the Great Hall so the entire structure is a whole and is more stable. On the front we will continue with the same style, but leaving a gap in the middle for a sheet as the entrance - when we get some more boxes for Sunday.