Peixuan Li
An umbrella designed as a prop for flash-mob that voices academic injustice and fights for the right to research, learn and publish. It is a dynamic object that hosts data/statistics through flexibility in an umbrella. This quotidian object aims to bring access to social values and perspectives in a society to everyday conversations.
Links
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1d1GLgCuyCiJiDVKtgnScRPESzphMsRux
Artist Statement
Peixuan Li, an industrial designer in Beijing, China. Graduated from Pratt Institute BID program and interned in American Heirloom. Trained in furniture design, cosmetic packaging, sustainability studies, etc. I take inspiration from daily life, and I’m aiming to make big changes by designing small objects.
Academic Freedom ——Protesting for rights to learn, research and publish.
Peixuan Li
Prof. Swati Piparsania
Design for Protest
Spring 2020/During COVID-19
Industrial Design
Pratt Institute
Academic Freedom
——Protesting for rights to learn, research and publish.
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to Prof. Swati Piparsania for her great teaching and instruction for this project.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to my friend Yi Wang for generous advice and accompaniment on both my work and my life.
I feel to acknowledge all the people who work at the special time during COVID-19 and provide me a safe and healthy environment to study and work.
Last but not the least, my classmates, parents, friends and boyfriend are also very supportive. They give me a lot of inspirations throughout the course which shaped the present work as its show.
Introduction
Academic freedom usually means the liberty of schools or public officials to learn, teach, research, publish and discuss knowledge without restriction or interference. But in many countries and societies, academics are affected by many outside forces, including government decisions and people’s bias.
However, “The world of academics is globally connected, and scholarship depends on the free flow of information, ideas, and peopleâ€. Forces against academic liberty can have global influence and affect the ways to explore the truth.
Protest & Design
As Haruki Murakami says, “We must not let the system control us-create who we are. It is we who created the systemâ€. However, we are all “human beings, individuals and fragile egg†(Murakami). Many people are under some injustice treatment under the powerful system. It is impossible for individuals to fight against the high wall and protect our rights, unless we protest together.
Design is a way to express our voices and make changes for a better world. It not only can make people’s life more convenient, but also can change people’s minds and reconstruct our society. Design is a weapon that helps protestors to avoid obstruction, make big visual impacts, and influence other people.
Case Study: US & China
(Shown in Link)
Challenges: Limitation of Expression
Academic people are facing unfair situations, when people realize the injustice, they go on the street and protest for it. However, not every protest is successful. Protests in various countries face different challenges. Limitation on academic freedom usually accompanies limitation of freedom of speech. Therefore, in many countries that don't allow freedom of speech, it is also hard for them to go on the street and protest for their rights without being caught by the police.
In addition, academic people themselves tend to explain things in a more gentle and delicate way. Many Chinese scholars are educated that “a gentleman uses his tongue, not his fist-å›å动å£ä¸åŠ¨æ‰‹â€ (“Lingueeâ€), which indicate that people should not use radical ways to express their demand. However, Protests happen everyday, and many academic protests couldn’t draw people’s attention out of all the events. Chairman Mao rewrote the saying and said, “first, a gentleman uses his tongue, not his fist, but two, if a bastard uses his fist, I’ll use mine†(Dan).
According to this, although people should not attack people and do radical things for no reason, when they meet injustice and unfair restrictions, even academic people should know how to protest for their rights and win their freedom.
Because of the speech limitation and limitation of expression, academic people face a lot of challenges. To protest for academic people, the protest has to have the ability to hide from the police as well as to become spectacular to stand out from other protests.
Research & Inspiration
There are many forms of protests such as demonstrations, parades, marches or attacks. In order to make big impacts, many protest movements take a lot of time and occupy large areas. However, in countries that limit free academic and free speech, gathering a large group of people to protest is illegal. Even if it happens, the organizers could be caught immediately and the protest will be dismissed. On the other hand, without big protests, it is impossible to draw people’s attention and achieve academic people’s needs.
Among all the protest types, I found that flash mob is a workable form for academic protestors. During a flash mob, a group of people assemble suddenly in public places, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Flash mobs are commonly used for entertainment, satire, artistic expression, or commercial advertisements, so most governments haven’t banned it. When the flash mob happens, it attracts people’s eyes immediately and when it dismisses, protestors hide into the crowd. It happens so quickly that it can successfully increase the difficulty for police to track them.
Experiment
(Shown in link)
Umbrella As Protest
Umbrella appears thousand years ago and is an object that is commonly used in people’s lives. It is cheap and easy for people to get in most countries and situations. It is also an object that can be easily folded and opened. Umbrella contains a large surface that faces outside, and many stores decorate umbrellas with various colors and patterns to show their branding and personality.
As protest objects, umbrellas usually symbolize protection and shelter because during rainy or snowy days, umbrellas cover people and prevent people from getting wet. It is also a functional tool during physical art movies, when the characters don't have weapons in their hands, they pick up umbrellas to fight with their enemy. In the 2014 Hongkong protest, protestors used umbrellas as defence against police pepper spray. After that, yellow umbrellas became a symbol for the protest, and the protest is named the umbrella movement.
protect function, demonstrating function and accessibility. It has an elegant aspect for academic people to store and use as a daily object, and it also has a potential to become aggressive during special contexts. Because of the special foldable function, during a flash mob, the protestors can either close it to hide the information and bring it to the street or open it to show the demonstration on the surface of the umbrella.
PIE CHART UMBRELLA:
Props for flash mob that protests academic injustice.
The pie chart umbrella develops from the form of academic tools and creates a physical weapon for an academic flashmob. It can be easily hidden or shortened into a small portable object, play as a physical weapon, or expanded into a large tool when needed. It will also contain information for the protest and impress the audiences with both the size of the object and the movement.
Product Description
The pie chart umbrella is a prop for flash mobs that protests academic injustice. The adjustable color area helps the protestors to present the statistical information.
Each color can be rotated to 360 degree or folded into a smaller angle. In order to change the color of the pie chart umbrella, users can slightly pull the fabric to disconnect the magnet on the bottom, and snap it to another position.
(Shown in Link)
Pie Chart Datas
In order to protest for academic people, I use languages that show scientific datas to express people’s demands, which is the pie chart. Pie charts are widely used in business and media, and can clearly demonstrate statistical proportion to the audience. The circular form matches the shape of umbrellas and the colors and shapes can impress people to remember the information.
Ex. Protesting for Chinese Scholars in the U.S.: (Shown in Link)
From Individual To Group
The pie chart umbrella can be used both for individuals and for group events.
As individuals, people who use the umbrella on the street automatically present their chart. They can use sleeve tags saying "WE ARE THE X%" to indicate the content of the pie chart, or they can make any creative tags to show their standpoint. Even when the protestors don't have a large group who hold a big movement together, individuals make their own impact by walking on the street with their attitude. When a lot of academic people hold umbrellas with the same information on the street, other social groups will pay attention and talk about it.
When there are flashmobs happening, protestors get together and present one common appeal. In this case, they can turn the umbrella into one color and form a pie chart by people's formation. The flashmob will be quick and simple. They get the umbrella and receive the information prior to the flashmob and walk to the spot with a folded umbrella like other random people. When they receive the signal from the organizer, they get together, open their umbrella and adjust the color for the specific protest. The formation can last a few minutes and then be dismissed. When the event ends, protestors fold their umbrella and fade in the crowd like nothing has happened before. To make more impact, the organizer can prepare cinematographers or drones to record the event and upload them on social media afterwards.
Works Cited
(Shown in Link)
Prof. Swati Piparsania
Design for Protest
Spring 2020/During COVID-19
Industrial Design
Pratt Institute
Academic Freedom
——Protesting for rights to learn, research and publish.
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to Prof. Swati Piparsania for her great teaching and instruction for this project.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to my friend Yi Wang for generous advice and accompaniment on both my work and my life.
I feel to acknowledge all the people who work at the special time during COVID-19 and provide me a safe and healthy environment to study and work.
Last but not the least, my classmates, parents, friends and boyfriend are also very supportive. They give me a lot of inspirations throughout the course which shaped the present work as its show.
Introduction
Academic freedom usually means the liberty of schools or public officials to learn, teach, research, publish and discuss knowledge without restriction or interference. But in many countries and societies, academics are affected by many outside forces, including government decisions and people’s bias.
However, “The world of academics is globally connected, and scholarship depends on the free flow of information, ideas, and peopleâ€. Forces against academic liberty can have global influence and affect the ways to explore the truth.
Protest & Design
As Haruki Murakami says, “We must not let the system control us-create who we are. It is we who created the systemâ€. However, we are all “human beings, individuals and fragile egg†(Murakami). Many people are under some injustice treatment under the powerful system. It is impossible for individuals to fight against the high wall and protect our rights, unless we protest together.
Design is a way to express our voices and make changes for a better world. It not only can make people’s life more convenient, but also can change people’s minds and reconstruct our society. Design is a weapon that helps protestors to avoid obstruction, make big visual impacts, and influence other people.
Case Study: US & China
(Shown in Link)
Challenges: Limitation of Expression
Academic people are facing unfair situations, when people realize the injustice, they go on the street and protest for it. However, not every protest is successful. Protests in various countries face different challenges. Limitation on academic freedom usually accompanies limitation of freedom of speech. Therefore, in many countries that don't allow freedom of speech, it is also hard for them to go on the street and protest for their rights without being caught by the police.
In addition, academic people themselves tend to explain things in a more gentle and delicate way. Many Chinese scholars are educated that “a gentleman uses his tongue, not his fist-å›å动å£ä¸åŠ¨æ‰‹â€ (“Lingueeâ€), which indicate that people should not use radical ways to express their demand. However, Protests happen everyday, and many academic protests couldn’t draw people’s attention out of all the events. Chairman Mao rewrote the saying and said, “first, a gentleman uses his tongue, not his fist, but two, if a bastard uses his fist, I’ll use mine†(Dan).
According to this, although people should not attack people and do radical things for no reason, when they meet injustice and unfair restrictions, even academic people should know how to protest for their rights and win their freedom.
Because of the speech limitation and limitation of expression, academic people face a lot of challenges. To protest for academic people, the protest has to have the ability to hide from the police as well as to become spectacular to stand out from other protests.
Research & Inspiration
There are many forms of protests such as demonstrations, parades, marches or attacks. In order to make big impacts, many protest movements take a lot of time and occupy large areas. However, in countries that limit free academic and free speech, gathering a large group of people to protest is illegal. Even if it happens, the organizers could be caught immediately and the protest will be dismissed. On the other hand, without big protests, it is impossible to draw people’s attention and achieve academic people’s needs.
Among all the protest types, I found that flash mob is a workable form for academic protestors. During a flash mob, a group of people assemble suddenly in public places, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Flash mobs are commonly used for entertainment, satire, artistic expression, or commercial advertisements, so most governments haven’t banned it. When the flash mob happens, it attracts people’s eyes immediately and when it dismisses, protestors hide into the crowd. It happens so quickly that it can successfully increase the difficulty for police to track them.
Experiment
(Shown in link)
Umbrella As Protest
Umbrella appears thousand years ago and is an object that is commonly used in people’s lives. It is cheap and easy for people to get in most countries and situations. It is also an object that can be easily folded and opened. Umbrella contains a large surface that faces outside, and many stores decorate umbrellas with various colors and patterns to show their branding and personality.
As protest objects, umbrellas usually symbolize protection and shelter because during rainy or snowy days, umbrellas cover people and prevent people from getting wet. It is also a functional tool during physical art movies, when the characters don't have weapons in their hands, they pick up umbrellas to fight with their enemy. In the 2014 Hongkong protest, protestors used umbrellas as defence against police pepper spray. After that, yellow umbrellas became a symbol for the protest, and the protest is named the umbrella movement.
protect function, demonstrating function and accessibility. It has an elegant aspect for academic people to store and use as a daily object, and it also has a potential to become aggressive during special contexts. Because of the special foldable function, during a flash mob, the protestors can either close it to hide the information and bring it to the street or open it to show the demonstration on the surface of the umbrella.
PIE CHART UMBRELLA:
Props for flash mob that protests academic injustice.
The pie chart umbrella develops from the form of academic tools and creates a physical weapon for an academic flashmob. It can be easily hidden or shortened into a small portable object, play as a physical weapon, or expanded into a large tool when needed. It will also contain information for the protest and impress the audiences with both the size of the object and the movement.
Product Description
The pie chart umbrella is a prop for flash mobs that protests academic injustice. The adjustable color area helps the protestors to present the statistical information.
Each color can be rotated to 360 degree or folded into a smaller angle. In order to change the color of the pie chart umbrella, users can slightly pull the fabric to disconnect the magnet on the bottom, and snap it to another position.
(Shown in Link)
Pie Chart Datas
In order to protest for academic people, I use languages that show scientific datas to express people’s demands, which is the pie chart. Pie charts are widely used in business and media, and can clearly demonstrate statistical proportion to the audience. The circular form matches the shape of umbrellas and the colors and shapes can impress people to remember the information.
Ex. Protesting for Chinese Scholars in the U.S.: (Shown in Link)
From Individual To Group
The pie chart umbrella can be used both for individuals and for group events.
As individuals, people who use the umbrella on the street automatically present their chart. They can use sleeve tags saying "WE ARE THE X%" to indicate the content of the pie chart, or they can make any creative tags to show their standpoint. Even when the protestors don't have a large group who hold a big movement together, individuals make their own impact by walking on the street with their attitude. When a lot of academic people hold umbrellas with the same information on the street, other social groups will pay attention and talk about it.
When there are flashmobs happening, protestors get together and present one common appeal. In this case, they can turn the umbrella into one color and form a pie chart by people's formation. The flashmob will be quick and simple. They get the umbrella and receive the information prior to the flashmob and walk to the spot with a folded umbrella like other random people. When they receive the signal from the organizer, they get together, open their umbrella and adjust the color for the specific protest. The formation can last a few minutes and then be dismissed. When the event ends, protestors fold their umbrella and fade in the crowd like nothing has happened before. To make more impact, the organizer can prepare cinematographers or drones to record the event and upload them on social media afterwards.
Works Cited
(Shown in Link)