This drome was not created in a day. It was the result of much hard work and problem solving. Never before in my Carleton career have I felt so challenged to address and solve problems quickly and creatively.
This is the story of the Drome.
Step 1: Inspiration
The Honorable Professore John Schott showed us these images of a Mediadrome created in 2008 by his Site-Specific Class.
The Professore later said to me, "I saw that spark in your eyes when you saw the first 'drome. I knew you were going to make it bigger and better." I then contacted multimedia artist extraordinaire, Henry Moskowitz, to ask his advice from his involvement in the 08 'drome. Henry said, "We mostly figured out how to do it ourselves." He provided further insight on the creation of their 'drome and how they funded it. His information was valuable but knowing that the '08 'drome had some major issues (namely, power loss and lack of documentation), I knew I had to make the 08 'drome simultaneously jealous and proud of the 2013 MEDIADROME.
Step 2: Idea Development
Much of the initial debate about the construction of the DROME was to copy the "burrito" shape of the '08 'drome or devise a new plan. At an initial meeting, we decided we wanted it to be the event of the century. With goals in hand, we took to debating the pros and cons of a burrito shape. The pros were mainly ease of construction, efficient use of material, and spatial availability. The biggest con was that it had been done before and we knew we could do better. Some notes from the initial planning meeting, as taken by Sir Ashanti Raheem Solider (AKA TOLOGY)
Quick notes from meeting at Cave! 9/24/13
Ideas to bounce around:
Live twitter feed?
Text the mediadromeà
turn blueà
bam=Blue?
Blown up latex gloves… floating that is.
Kiss cam?
Kaleidescopatameter!!
Big Question: Divide by time or continuous??
“be it music, visual, whatever… let it be continuous” –Mary
“ it should just flow”- Woody
With some vague ideas about moving away from the 08 'drome design, we took to the internet. The beautiful and talented Haley Ryan provided us with a few models for inspiration: the hexayurt and the geodesic dome. A few drafts were drawn and promptly thrown away in my dungeon bedroom. Then Haley sent the link that changed everything: the mirrordome projection guide.
Devised by a man named Paul Bourke, the mirrordome projection system was developed primarily for DIY astronomy planetarium construction. We quickly realized that with a few tweaks to his system, we could develop a method to project our videos in 360. The MEDIADROME had to be a dome.
Step 3: Initial Design and Site
Planning forged ahead. It quickly became apparent that I had to revisit my old geometry skills in order to engineer a dome that would stand. We decided to use the '08 inflation method, with carpet blowers borrowed from facilities. Inflation is a cheap method, as we did not have to purchase structural internal support. The initial drafts were based upon available plastic sheeting we found on the internet. We had to base our numbers off of the available sheets from a roll of plastic and the width of that roll.
MEDIADROME Design 1 by Mary Begley
Note the diamond shape of the planned plastic figures with which to assemble the dome. In this design, we conceived of having the dome be fully enclosed- a bubble. It would have a plastic floor and plastic roof. The illustration on the left shows the anticipated spatial organization inside the dome. At the time, I did not conceive of having multiple positions for blowers (something that later proved essential).
On September 30th, I met with Jay Stadler, the head of facilities, to discuss a location for the MEDIADROME. We wanted to use a spot near Bell Field. We chose this spot initially for several reasons: its proximity to the Cowling Dance that would be happening on the date of the DROME, the sound insulation provided by the Arb and Bell Field Hill, and an homage to the '08 'drome.
Proposed Site for MEDIADROME indicated by black circle
Mr. Stadler graciously approved the use of the site from his perspective, and he suggested I speak with Kerry Dwyer, the master electrician, to determine the power capabilities of this site. I met with Mr. Dwyer the very next day and he enthusiastically informed me that he could give us as much power as we could ever need. Mr. Dwyer also, on a stroke of inspiration, showed me a seaming method that we later used to construct the dome.
Everything was going well for the MEDIADROME as September drew to a close, until one fateful morning in the Rec Center. As I approached the Rec Center, I had a sense of foreboding. I don't usually (ever) go to the Rec and I knew I was very out of place there with my books about punk rock and ambitious designs for a crazy dome. I wanted to ask the Recreational people for use of the Cowling basement indoor tennis court for some construction. They denied that request and expressed concerns about the proximity of the MEDIADROME to the sports field. With playoffs so soon, they were concerned that drunken art-revelers would destroy the sports field and prevent the sports team from playing sports game on the sports field and win sports trophies.
The first proposed site was thusly rejected. With my head hung low and my hopes effectively stomped on with sports cleats, I went back to the drawing board. I spoke again with the ever-helpful Mr. Stadler who proposed a second site.
Second Proposed site of MEDIADROME
This site had its own unique set of problems. I spoke with the coordinator of campus events, Noel Ponder, whose unflappable positivity lifted my spirits. He expressed concern with the time of the MEDIADROME and the neighbors across the street from the proposed site who may like to go to bed before 1AM. Back to the drawing board, 'drome team!
Step 3: Finalizing a Site and Design
Several brainstorming sessions were held to reconceptualize the DROME site. At one of these, the concern was raised about the shape of the dome. If the dome were a perfect hemisphere, we would not be maximizing the available space at the edge of the circle. People could not stand near the walls. We decided to adopt a modified hemisphere to maximize the amount of people that could enter the drome.
MEDIADROME Design 2 by Mary Begley
As you can (perhaps) see in the above illustration, the new dome has a section between the ground and the hemisphere for added height. The resultant shape resembles less of a hemisphere and more of a birdcage. At this point in the design strategy, the top of the dome has been altered. Note in Design 1 that the triangles were perceived to be joined at the top like a pizza: the triangles connected. We built a model based on this design and worried about the pressure exerted by the internal air pressure on this construction method at the top. We knew that the blowers would be constantly increasing internal air pressure unless mediated, and we worried that the pressure would be too great on these six seams at the top. We decided to develop a "beach ball" inspired top, with a circle connecting the panels of the dome.
The finalized design, to be used in the construction of the MEDIADROME:
MEDIADROME Design 3 by Mary Begley
Our MEDIADROME was designed, and with funding provided by the CAMS department and the Carleton Film Society, the materials ordered. Now we just needed somewhere to put it. We decided that the rugby pitch, the site of debauched activities such as Rottblatt and Spring Concert, could possibly be the perfect place. The Rugby team was asked by Brit Fryer and Ashanti Soldier for their consent and they heartily agreed. Go Oaks!!! Mr. Dwyer assured us that the power necessary could be provided to this site and Mr. Stadler approved as well. We put in a facilities request for the "turtle" power source, power cables, and carpet blowers. Everything was ready to go. Woody Kaine, resident gearhead and Isadora master, had devised a plan using the program Isadora (created by our friend, Mark the Artist, from Omaha, NE) to project simultaneously on three projectors. We had the capability to control the videos at the touch of a button or a drum pad thanks to the ingenuity and user-friendly interface of Isadora.
The end of the planning stage had been reached and construction was due to start. I will pick up this narrative in another post dedicated solely to the implementation of plans discussed in this post.
drome is life
mdb
