Brian Greene, in his book ‘The Fabric of the Cosmos’ says that string theory suggests there are 11 dimensions including time and these dimensions are compactified or rolled up into such small shapes that they cannot be observed by humans. I wanted to create an interactive space that represents this and that people can manipulate whilst gaining an understanding of the science. I also wanted the piece to be a representation of the interconnectedness of everything in the cosmos, how everything influences everything else.
The idea was to have a structure made up of modules that bend at their edges. The structure can be folded to create multiple dimensions just like in string theory. It is transformable, the modules can be pushed upwards to create a roof, spread outwards and inwards. The structure can be adapted to the visitor for them to either sit down or move through the space. Each visitor will push and pull the structure according to what they want but in turn will affect others using the space too. Some panels are sheer so people will be able to get a sense of others moving around and changing the structure, and this will be a reminder that everything is connected.
I first wanted to make development models to test materials and see what the folding structure could be made from, how well it was reflecting the concept and if it would be easy for the visitors to use. I then chose a final design that encompassed all of this. I also made a conceptual animation of the structure in action within a documentary that visually explained the development and process of the project. I also made some scaled-down interactive models that are abstract representations of Multidimensional Space. These can be played with to get a sense of how the structure would move, and how it creates many dimensions within one space.