Rediscovered Wonders: A Collection

Joyce Eunseo Kim
Los Angeles, CA

Senior Thesis | On-Site Installation & Rhino & Blender & Procreate & Large-Scale Sewing & Fabrication & Arduino

Rediscovered Wonders: A Collection is an installation that incorporates fabrics, mixed media, projection mapping, and spatial design to bring to life an imaginary space that holds forgotten dreams. This project aims to leave the audience with that spark of hope and imagination that they have once felt in their youth; and to encourage them to hold onto that part of themselves.

Artist: Joyce Eunseo Kim

Special Thanks to Ivan Mendoza, Cardin Chung, Aiden Lim, Dajah Childs, Ashley Kim, Reese Williams, Zion Kim, Maizy Zenger, MA+P Staff and Faculty

“Where do dreams go after we outgrow them? Do we have to outgrow them?”
These were the leading questions in my research while creating my Senior Thesis to finish my B.A. at the University of Southern California. I was interested in the concept of suspension of disbelief in the Disney Parks and the idea that people would allow happiness upon themselves because they believed it was possible in the physical world that was made for them to walk around and experience. For my thesis, I wanted to push this idea: Was is possible to allow happiness, hope, the “impossible” if you were brave enough to believe?

With this research, I created Rediscovered Wonders: A Collection, an installation around wonder and a place where dreams go after we outgrow them. By combining technology with story, I created interactable props to plant within the space to help my audience practice their imagination skills. With interactables that you could only see the magic of if you took the steps to think about the possibilities of them and act on them.

My goal was for the audience to leave the space thinking back on the dreams they let go of and to live their reality wishing.

Exhibit Photos

Interactive Elements

Entrance Quilt

An entrance that transitions the audience from their reality into a magical space.

Cabinet of Wonders

The cabinet of wonders. Filled with old friends from childhood with heartbeats - they were alive all along. Along with a mailbox the audience can send off theirs dreams as this space promises to keep them safe.

Fireflies

Vibrating fireflies that the audience can hold in their hands to make a wish.

Daydream Lamp

An interactive lamp where the audience must turn off the lamp to see the vivid dreams of childhood.

Dreams that people left in this space

Digital Assets

Entrance Animation

Daydream Lamp Animation

Pond Animation

TV Video

Plans

Initial Sketches

Floorplan + 3D Render
Created in Rhino

Process

Sanding down 3D printed rocks

Custom sewing throw pillows

Working in TinkerCAD to digitally wire and prototype my code before installing my physical build

Building out the physical prototype

Installing the wiring into the hanging mobile set piece

Laser printing a custom hanging mobile out of cardboard

Selecting fabrics from my parent’s cutting shop

3D printing the rocks I modeled in Blender and sliced in Bambu studio

Drilling holes into my hanging mobile to secure it on stage

Sewing large scale fabrics that would be used as dividers for my installation

Sewing a custom 8ft tall quilt that would be used as the entrance and projection screen

Skills: Set Dressing, Animation, Creative Coding, Rhino, Video Editing, Projection Mapping, 3D Modeling, 3D Printing, Laser Printing, Basic Woodworking (Routing, Sanding, Drilling), Painting, Sewing, Ceramic Sculpting
Tools: Arduino, TouchDesigner, Orbital Sander, Drill, Singer Sewing Machine, Potter’s Wheel, Hot Glue Gun
Materials: Fabric, Wood, Clay, PLA Plastic, Cardboard
Softwares: TouchDesigner