Mill Road Cemetery
Oct. 2022 - Dec. 2022
The aim of the Design Methods and Contexts module of my MA was to introduce students to design thinking and theories behind the process of creating and designing a project. Our framework was a project based around the nearby cemetery on Mill Road.
During the project, I explored what interested me about the cemetery while considering the impact the project could have on the location and the community surrounding it.
Outcome
I began by looking at the headstones, becoming intrigued by some of the phrases used and the names of the deceased. On the Mill Road Cemetery website, I discovered an archive recounting the lives of many of the people buried there. I wanted to bring these stories to life, so my final proposal at the end of the module was to host a light show in the cemetery. The use of sound, holograms and light sculptures would temporarily transform the space into a storytelling site, revealing the histories of the graves as recounted by the ghosts themselves.
Process
As aforementioned, I became invested in the stories of the cemetery and wanted to bring them to a wider audience.
My initial visual experiments included drawings and book-forms. I developed the idea of using tracing paper to layer images and bring a "ghostly" quality to the illustrations.
However, to reach a wider audience and to create a connection with the space, I decided to focus on designing an event. While looking at VR options, I decided I wanted the location itself to play a role and be accessible to all age-groups, eschewing excessive technology in favour of a light show. There was a concern that holographic ghosts recounting their stories could become "scary", but I think that the illuminated headstones and lights would bring a magical quality to the cemetery. Giving faces to the lives and history of the place also adds a human element beyond the fear of hauntings.
This module has encouraged me to consider the thought processes behind creative decisions. Projects can become forces of positive change and social impact with correct research into the needs of the space and audience, and this project encouraged me to think of the "complex problems" surrounding the initial brief.
