Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

A few weeks back I ran the first of a series of particpatory workshops for my research project Where the Sky Widens. This one was kindly hosted by Birmingham Open Media and participants cam from a public invitation.

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Being the first workshop I was quite hands-off at letting the discussion and pace find their own equilibrium. It was hard at first to encourage people to talk as they first got to grips with the paper templates, but as people found their groove there were some nice meaty topics.

A recurring theme in the feedback has been about the strength of feeling people felt towards their completed pods after crafting it by their own hand rather than just being handed a pre-made object. No wonder really when you look back at the making process:

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

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Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

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Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

There were some really interesting places selected for people’s pods to respond to, and it was great to see the reactions when the pods first kicked into life and started waggling. Walks were made.

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

…and interactions were had:

Where the Sky Widens workshop at BOM

One person declined to take their work home with them and I’m curious to learn the fate of the others. There has been talk of naming, nesting and re-surfacing…