about the project
Pipe dream is an 8-month long project which explores the role of community music-making and the arts in the scope of prejudice reduction. This idea was developed through primary research methods such as focus group sessions, interviews, and observational research where I immersed myself in various migrant workers art programs such as migrant worker poetry competition, migrant worker poetry festival, and dibashram. This allowed me to understand the scope of the issue, where I came to understand was that transient workers and Singaporeans generally had very little means of interaction which further alienates each other.
An insight that I gathered was that these events allowed people like myself (and most Singaporeans who generally do not have any way to interaction) to view transient workers in a different light as it blurs the lines of social status which allowed transient workers to be seen as social actors rather than economic actors in the society. These events, however, lacked the Singaporean audience. This could be attributed to the private nature of such events where even though public are not heavily publicized due to lack of resources. people would have to proactively find and attend such events which usually are held at venues where people do not generally stumble upon.
A heavy emphasis on the proposed site was placed to ensure the effectiveness of installation in bringing both transient workers and Singaporeans together. 3 locations were narrowed to Paya Lebar MRT, Marina Barrage, and East Coast Park as viable locations for the installation. An empty spot at East Coast Park Marine Cove between Mcdonalds, the playground, and the beach was eventually chosen as it had a constant crowd of Singaporean families and transient workers on Sundays and public holidays. Having the installation placed there serves as a catalyst for interaction between the two groups through community music-making.
As a product designer, I conceptualized ways to explore the essence of community music-making in a physical manner, which led me to design an interactive installation. I took cues from the sights I observed in scaffolding and fences and took reference from colour palettes from construction sites and industrial estates to inform my design process. Pipe dream takes reference from tube-based instruments such as pan flutes and tubulums for the sounds produced from different length pipes. It also draws inspiration from harmonic and sound curves for its fluid form.
Hi guys! This is a video of how I envision pipe dream to be played. I initially intended to have members of Dibashram to be part of this video as they have played a major role in the research process. Unfortunately due to the current circumstances with COVID-19 and Singapore’s cicuit breaker measures, this could not come to fruition. What is most important is everyone’s safety and that we make full use of our situation. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When a global pandemic forces you to complete your graduation project at home, you make this video!
research process
design process
