Week 11 : Taking a Friendly Hand V3.0 out on a Field Trip

This week, I focused on carrying out my first outdoor experience attempting to communicate and perform with a tree. Titled: Dance, Forest, Dance it involves a few chunky Friendly Hands that dances to light. Subsequently, I began executing the deliverables for Open Studios next week.

Part ①: Designing the Brain of A Friendly Hand

This week began with designing the UI for A Friendly Hand, which responds to light emitted from black-and-white visuals. As previously explored, moving circles cause the hand to move unpredictably, while a shifting gradient results in smoother, more fluid movements.

To explore how the hand might move with more control, I imagined an interface where users could adjust the speed of the animations—thereby controlling the movement of the hand and allowing for a more playful, interactive experience.

Once I decided that a tablet would be used to support the control and choreography of Dance, Forest, Dance—featuring The Tree, The Mimosa, and The Mycorrhizal Fungus as an ecosystem of choreography—I began prototyping a UI in p5.js.

The interface features three modes: (1) Algorithmic Circles, (2) Shifting Gradient, and (3) Glitching Effect, each offering a different expression to the hand’s movement—playful, poetic, or erratic.

Part ②: Filming the Assemblage of A Friendly Hand v3.0

Next, I began filming the last of the three hands. I had intentionally left it unassembled last week so I could document the build process as part of the final video.

I filmed this in class using a makeshift studio setup. The goal was to capture clear, close-up footage of the various components coming together—each part drawing metaphorical links to the mycorrhizal network.

These clips will serve as material for a romantic, emotional video that explores the parallel between nature and technology, inviting viewers into the world of imagination I’ve been crafting.

For example: orange threads and jumper wires standing in as strands of mycelium; birch plywood and the paper hand symbolizing an extension of the mycorrhizal system, all subtly powered by light through the LDR sensor.

Part ③: Bringing a Friendly Hand Out on a Field Trip

Mid-week, I brought all three Friendly Hands to an open field in Woodleigh, Singapore. Along with the interface—the "brain"—I placed them near a tree to experience what I’ve been dreaming of: a moment of communication and performance with a tree, just like in the illustration Dance, Forest, Dance.

I thought it was going to be easy—until I realized the LDR sensors were picking up environmental light rather than responding to the interface I designed. So, I had to recalibrate the sensor values on the spot.

The night before, I had also added a 0.1 ease to the micro servo’s motion, allowing it to better match the original, gentler movement of A Friendly Hand.

Overall, it was a successful first day out. Whether it truly achieved Dance, Forest, Dance remains to be seen—it’ll need another field test, with better calibration between the micro servo and LDR under outdoor daylight conditions.

Post-Field Trip Thoughts

Ⓐ It didn’t really feel like I was connecting with the tree—I was more focused (and stressed) about getting the technical setup to work properly. Maybe with better preparation, the experience could’ve felt more intentional.

Ⓑ It was interesting to see ants crawling around the hand, as if they didn’t mind its presence at all.

Ⓒ Since the hand wasn’t functioning as intended, I wasn’t able to gather any meaningful feedback from participant interaction.

Part ④: Scripting, Conceptualising and Editting a Video

Next, I began working on the script for the video. Before filming, I already had a structure in mind: an introduction to the topic, an off-beat question—"What if trees could dance with us?"—followed by a making sequence, and finally, Dance, Forest, Dance.

Since I had already gathered some of the necessary clips, I started writing the script, recording my voiceover, and editing the video.

The goal of this video is to set an imaginative scenario that supports the existence of A Friendly Hand—to explore why I began questioning my relationship with my electronic devices and the physical environment, and why I wished to feel a sense of closeness with nature by imagining that I could communicate and perform with a tree using the very tools that so often distance me from it.

Also, a medium for me to communicate the topic of human-nature relationship in an emotional / relatable way.

Part ⑤: Open Studio Set-Up Check-In

By the end of the week, I had started—or more or less achieved—three out of four deliverables for my table: the interface, video documentation, and early artefacts are all checked off.

The publication, however, is still cooking in my dreams. But the show must go on—so I began finalising my set-up using a sample book first. The plan is to work on the publication over the weekend, finish editing the video, and head to print on Monday, 1 Apr 2025.

The following images show a work-in-progress of my Open Studio set-up. It’s mostly true to the original plan, with just a few minor tweaks and posters up on the partition wall.