Carmen PAPALIA

• TOP >
• Residency Program >
• Invited Creators >
• Carmen PAPALIA

Carmen PAPALIA

Participating Project	International Creator Residency Program
Activity Based	Vancouver
City / Place stayed	Tokyo
Period	2024.05 - 2024.07

Purpose of the residency

While at TOKAS I'll develop version 2.0 of Acoustic Mobility Device, a detection cane turned instrument that translates texture into sound. The design for the object will build on ver. 1.0, which I produced at designer S. Hendren’s Adaptive and Assistive Technologies Lab at Olin College in Boston in 2015. In ver. 1.0, a contact mic built into the cane’s “feeler” translates texture into sound and is transmitted through headphones, a speaker or the cane’s purpose-built modulation unit, a multifunctional device made from Fender electric guitar effects pedals.

Plan during the residency

The goal in producing version 2.0, mentioned in "Purpose of the residency", will be to improve the usability and robustness of the design after discovering its limitations through personal use, collaboration and exhibiting it as an art object. Through an iterative design process, I'll address its use as an instrument that I can navigate independently when collaborating with a musician or live-mixing the sounds that I make in solo performances.
Being in Tokyo will allow me to pursue a partnership with a Japanese electric guitar manufacturer so the project may benefit from the knowledge and resources that the partnering company has in regards to sound technology, instrument design and fabrication.

Creator Information