Experimental Design: Third Place, Most Creative

Chia-hsiao Sinz Shih
School of the Art Institute of Chicago

K’muni

Artist's Statement: K'muni is a city, a mega structure, a system and a life style. It is a metaphor of our world physically and virtually. Everyone can move into k'muni by living in the mega structure, following the k'muni system, and having a k'muni life style. In k'muni, we are all "the same" because we use the same system, have the same life style, and live in the same cubes; we are all "different" because our desires, dreams, and personal characteristics are diverse.

In k'muni, the cube is a container, a vehicle and a living space for people. Cubes can be moved inside the shafts by magnetic levitation systems and be parked by attaching to the tracks outside the shafts. They can also be moved between different shafts and be connected to other cubes when they are moved or parked. People learn how the k'muni system works and what the k'muni life style is by moving into k'muni, getting a cube and everything you need to begin the life in the cube, and visiting other people's cubes.

The interactive movie was made by using Dimensions®, Illustrator®, Photoshop®, Adobe® Premiere®, Flash, Director and GoLive® (for web-publishing only). At first, I used Dimensions to draw 3D material (cube, shafts, structures) and the furniture. I pasted them into Illustrator and composed them while drawing more furniture. Some images were screen shots imported directly into Director or imported into Photoshop to re-edit and then imported into Director. For the furniture, I pasted the images into Illustrator and then into Flash, and then exported as an "swf" movie to import to Director. In Director, I put everything together and created Director Projector for CD-ROM and shockwave movie for the web. At the end, I used GoLive to do final web publishing.

This work is my perception of the world I live in. It is a metaphor of the physical and the virtual world. I believe the spirit is the only thing that makes us unique from the material, even though we all live in the same cubes and use the same products.