Speculative Design
Oral History Museum Installation Project
I created the “Straight Talk Box,” a speculative design project that remediates the hot comb (also known as pressing comb) into a recording and listening device. The remediation of the hot comb converts a familiar object with its own historical and cultural complexity into a device that can explore that history among the people who participate in the project. The device invites audience participation and collaboration with the designer to create content for broader communal consumption. The device will expand the relationship between the maker and the institution and shorten the distance between the institution and participants/visitors.
In the more expansive model, the audience community participates with and as makers/designers. They can also consume the content in digital storytelling spaces without relying on a physical, institutional space. This expands the institution's borders by supporting designers and communal oral histories without requiring physical presence. This ingratiates the institutions with communities; they feel more accessible, and the creations become more personal.
This design also offers an expansive way to consume the design and the content created within the framework between the designer, the audience, and the institution. The traditional relationship usually exists between the maker/designer and the institution, and then between the institution and the audience community.