Critique
Cecile Roca Morla
Bio
Born in Ecuador, I studied law specializing in corporate law and environmental policy. In New York, I took a different path, working for the industry of shopping centers creating business development for the Latin America region. Since 2011, I’ve been involved in art projects, and I co-founded Monea LLP. a furniture company that exposed me to product design and fabrication. In 2015, I learned about UX Design, since then I worked in different design studios in NYC such as Gallagher & Associates, The Rockwell Lab, and Hypersonic.
My background gives me a unique perspective to deliver on complex challenges, on both short and long-term projects. I am passionate about structuring complex information and creating functional and intuitive spaces.
My professional objective is to combine a unique multicultural and multidisciplinary background creating 360° experiences, but I’m also interested in applying this knowledge into better human-centered experiences in the reconstruction of urban areas.
Projects
Experimental Clock
This project was about creating an experimental clock. I got inspired by one of my favorite things to watch, raindrops falling across the window. My idea was to create a psychedelic background that changes colors as the sky through the day with colored raindrops that move across the canvas. There are three drops of different sizes that represent and move based on seconds, minutes, and hours. They are surrounded by smaller raindrops that represent our memories, as a parallel time that takes us back to a specific moment so vividly that it feels that we are traveling in time. The raindrops that represent the memories move quickly as our minds can take us to that moment in time. I used Javascript to make the visualization.
Experimental Camera
For this project, I wanted to criticize social media and how people showcase curated photos of their life and themselves, creating this fantasy of a perfect life for the rest of the world. At the same time, I wanted to showcase how much time we spend curating this fantasy and forgetting real life.
I was inspired by the Pomodoro time management method to break down the time that we spend in front of the camera with break intervals. This camera shows a blue overlay, when it is full blue represents full energy, and when it is zero transparency means that our energy is low. Once the overlay is transparent, the camera will let us know that it is time to go for a walk. The camera shows a pixelated negative capture. The negative pixelated capture highlights the idea of the fantasy narratives that we create in front of a camera, action that distorted the real self, as well as how this activity consumes our energy and time. When our energy is low, a warning appears on the screen telling us to go for a walk, as a way to enjoy the real world. The energy levels can be reset by clicking the ‘reset button’.
Forest of the Future / Artificial Xylem
Forest of the future is an art installation that critiques the massive deforestation, and forest degradation in the world. I’m assuming a possible future, and I want to create awareness by exposing people to this possible future. Forest of the future has different automated trees, root systems, and natural support networks as a real forest where people will walk through exposed extreme conditions such as cold, heat, dryness, and wind (created artificially). The machines will try to control the extreme conditions of the room. The machines are not reliable, and not enough to solve the problem in the room, exposing the reality of many unattended communities that are challenged with the consequences of climate change.
For this project, I focus on one of the Machines: The Artificial Xylem, a water filtering machine made of recyclable materials that I was able to get during the peak of the pandemic, such as PVC, plastic valve, pumice stones, metallic screens, and sponge. Additionally, to check the effectiveness of the Artificial Xylem, I used a sensor that measures the pH of the filtered water. The sensor was connected with a system that shows when the levels of the pH were normal or too high. To accomplish this, I wrote code on Raspberry Pi to show a blue light when the pH of the water was normal, and red light when the pH was too high.
This project is a research project that uses experimental and artistic methods to obtain information. The methods that I am using are designed experiences created to accelerate the power dynamics between the participants, and it challenges them to use their body to communicate and balance their power dynamic if required, as well as, agree upon a goal, which is to complete the task. For the purpose of this research, participants might repeat the experiences several times for two reasons: One to be able to balance the power dynamic and two for me to find repeated actions, movements, gestures among the different participants. The result of these experiences is recorded in videos. So far I’ve been using these videos as assets to iterate the experiences.
What common themes, questions, or methods emerge across these works?
I think the common themes in my projects are narratives and experiences focused on social topics and criticism. I found a need to communicate a message so it is important to design narratives through the experience.
I used javascript and python for the first time, and with my Project Artificial Xylem, I was able to combine what I was learning in my Python class with my MS1 class. Additionally, Design for Humanities and Holistic UX helped me to design the experiences on my MS2 project.
I realized during this year that I would like to design 360° experiences, combining fabrication, digital platforms, and decentralized narratives to help in the reconstruction or development of urban areas.
Insides and Conclusion
Through this year, I found it extremely important to learn Javascript. It helped me to open different ways to create experiences. I wish CC Lab was divided into two semesters. I found the second half of the course very challenging for such a short time. I know that we are not becoming engineers but the use of coding in the design industry is becoming common, so I think it needs to be studied in depth.
Additionally, I found it interesting to learn how the use of technology can go wrong discriminating against certain groups or nature. As designers, we need to be conscious of our work. During this year, I feel we focus on the problems and not on the solutions. I think there was no time and projects to use all this knowledge and applied it to something positive.
