Aether
2019
Research / Interactive Technology Design / Art Direction / Brand Design / Packaging Design
Aether is the culmination of focused thesis research during my final undergraduate year at OCADU.
Over the course of five days my experiential pop-up shop was open to the public and aimed to expose the wellness industry’s predatory practices through satire.
Over the course of five days my experiential pop-up shop was open to the public and aimed to expose the wellness industry’s predatory practices through satire.
A line of seven absurd products embody the industry’s
practices of exploiting our naiveté and feelings of
inadequacy for profit. The fabrication of illness and
unsubstantiated claims within the areas of mindfulness,
fitness, energy, and beauty are captured in this suite of
objects that are more extreme caricatures of existing
products for sale today.
Upon engaging with a smart mirror, viewers receive what appears to be a personalized wellness diagnosis that they can remedy by buying the product with the matching colour gradient. A script implementing face-tracking detection was made to trigger one of seven ‘custom’ wellness diagnosis animations displayed on a monitor.
I. Approaching the smart mirror‘What’s your spiritual weakness?’
II. Processing face-detection
‘Hang tight! Reading chakras...’
‘Hang tight! Reading chakras...’
III. Receive personalized wellness diagnosis
Displays one of seven animations total
Displays one of seven animations total
Wellness is a paradigm that suggests self-enhancement is attainable through relentless determination but feelings of inadequacy survives due to the near impossibility of becoming one’s idealized self. The quest for self-optimization is ironically exhausting and increasingly being enabled by wearable technology, the quantification of self, and social media.
This curated experience encourages reflection on the extent to which we as a culture partake in new-age wellness and for what purpose.
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