Abstract

Any object is completely still or in motion from one place to another. Rearranging objects in one's apartment is one example, where the objects I am surrounded with are tentative regarding the placement.

The scene I saw of personal belongings, used as a form of queuing at the football stadium in Japan, has a specific reason behind the placement. Although temporarily placed, it has a meaning moving forward.

In this thesis, I aim to discuss the change in spatial environments caused by the placement of objects. My research question is, how does the placement of objects define new interpretations within the spatial environment? Additionally, what are the implications of misplacing text and objects together?

I plan to investigate these aspects by incorporating my memories of visits to a specific spatial environment where objects are influenced and exploring examples from contemporary artists that I have personally encountered. Throughout this essay, I will dive into some of the chosen works mentioned and analyze how the placement of the objects influences the viewer within the space.

Introduction

During my time in Japan, every once in a while I enjoyed watching a football match at the stadium. At first, it wasn’t in my interest at all. I was aware but not interested. But then it became recurring to my eyes whenever I walked past it. As I kept walking around the Todoroki stadium, what captivated my attention were the personal belongings on the floor, unsure of why there were so many of them. I started to recognize that the personal belongings on the floor were a form of queuing that had been agreed upon.

Once I realized fans were using personal belongings as a way to claim a place in the queue, this sparked an interest.

These thoughtless, yet expressive gestures inspired my interest to explore the connection between the image of personal belongings as a form of queueing and the art pieces. The focal point between the two is the spatial positionings of the objects.

Personal Belongings on the Floor

I realized there was a first-come-first-served system¹ for the queue created by football fans in Japan. Like an invisible hologram being placed, people were ‘queuing’ through their objects. For the annual tennis event for Wimbledon, there is a booklet of guidelines for the queue. In the booklet, it’s written that “Temporary absence from the queue of refreshments should not exceed 30 minutes”.²

> [Fig.01,on the right] Personal belongings, Todoroki Stadium, (2019), image captured by me

In line with this guideline, I was curious to see whether my spot would be kept. I experimented by placing my bottle with my initials, “M” on the bottle to reserve my spot in the queue. I went away for a few hours to walk around the neighborhood. Some determined fans would reserve the spot earlier than I did, three days before the football match. The reason is, to have a higher chance of claiming a good seat at the stadium. I approached my spot and realized my bottle was in the same place. As the match was about to start, people returned and lined up according to their belongings and then physically queued before the game. There is a sense of environmental trust between the community and a daily ritual of placing personal belongings before every event.

However, people waiting in line can also be seen as a form design, as Don Norman states,

“In that way, it’s a matter of design, of trying to understand the psychology of the people waiting but also their boredom and frustration. It requires a human-centered design perspective, from the points of view of both the people doing the servicing and the people waiting in line. That isn’t hard, but you have to develop a sensitivity to it or realize why it might be important.”³

The placing of the bottles completely diminishes the frustration and boredom that people may feel while queueing. The system of placing one's belongings and returning when they need to, allows the individuals to make use of their time efficiently.

An Imaginary Methodology

Augmented reality is an experience of combining digital information and the real world as a form of additional input for users by altering their natural environment through technology.⁴

In 2017, IKEA released the ‘IKEA Place’ app to help people virtually place furniture in their homes.⁵ Through a sense of augmented reality, users can place interiors in their rooms and experiment with the interiors that would suit the space. This makes shopping for furniture much more convenient while in the comfort of their home.

This made me wonder whether we can see a future where augmented reality can replace queueing? The action of placing personal belongings on the floor for a queue creates an augmented reality-like aspect of being present in absence. So the users have the luxury of not waiting?

Let's say the user creates an AR avatar. As I am writing, I recall something familiar. Back when I was a teenager, occasionally, I would play Nintendo Wii. There is an option in the console for users to create a personal Mii. A Mii is a customizable avatar used in Nintendo consoles.⁶ What if a personal Mii is on the spot in the queue?

> [Fig.04, on the right] Mii, Nintendo

A digital personal avatar is in the queue rather than the person. He or she applies the avatar just like one does using IKEA Place, from their own home and then views the avatar using augmented reality in the dedicated area in the queue. Once they are in the queue. An augmented reality Mii is waiting in line. I created an imaginary scenario of Mii with the queue but it does sound promising.

The methodology of the personal belongings with the queue is eye-opening due to the uniqueness of the action. Placing your belongings on the floor at the stadium unattended is possible to proceed, amongst these individuals because it is agreed upon with mutual trust.

Each personal belongings created a communal art installation.

Exploration of Contemporary Artists

Zhanna Kadyrova's installation, "Filling In" (2012), featuring cups, pans, jugs, and buckets, came to my mind

There is a similarity between the image of the personal belongings on the floor and Kadyrova's “Filling In” artwork. Both involve the placement of household items with the same principle— an intention towards the placement.

In the work of “Filling in” a sense of urgency of leaning towards the pans and cups is present. To look closer to the artwork; Colorful tiles are filled rather than a transparent liquid in each of the household items. The color here presents a tension between the form and the signifier. The liquid in each has an association with food or beverage. For example, the white could signify milk, the red could signify strawberry jam, the blue could signify? And the black could signify? Am I able to drink from the blue container?

The work challenges the audience to contemplate a deep feeling about what we choose to fill the containers with and what we consume from them in our everyday lives.⁷ It is almost unrecognizable to identify the placement of the color and the household items together because it brings the viewer to reconsider what we choose to fill the containers with.

Sometimes one has to physically attend a room, place, or exhibition to notice how a sculpture, artwork, or object is changing the viewer's senses.

While attending the exhibition of Anthony Gormley, the piece ‘Breathing Room III’ (2010) caught my attention. As shown in Figure 6, the space contains a three-dimensional drawing of lines. The photo-luminescent paint on the three-dimensional lines produces light when it is dark. In my perception, the work seemed to challenge the audience's sensory perception and how the work created a sense of surprise and wonder. I decided to observe the bright blue light in the dark room. People were walking around and discussing as they walked. I was waiting and observing. I could only see the shadows of the human body moving. Across the room, I hear people talking. All of a sudden, the people stopped talking. Immediately, I stopped thinking. The quick transition from dark to light, the immediate reveal of the human existence from the shadow to the visibility of their outfits and their faces caught me off guard. The light turned off in the room and I was back to seeing the shadow of the human body moving.

Anthony Gromley says about the Breathing Room III (2010),

“The dynamic of the breathing room is between meditation and integration, this is not about representation, this is not about transferring information or ideas, it is reinforcing the first-hand experience of each and every one of us, as experiencing consciousness within these spaces. And that it should be both reinforcing but also disorienting”⁸

Although the artist himself suggests that it is not a representation. As an observer, I see the space of the Breathing Room III (2010) as an infinite representation of the everyday lifestyle of people walking through day and night. On a sunny day outside, we can see their outfits and their facial expressions, while at night outside we can see shadows of people moving unless there is a light nearby. One last note: the rapid transition of the dark and the light within the space creates the feeling of disorientation.

I once visited a store that sells clocks. This place created a similar experience. I entered with an open curiosity to see different kinds of clocks. In the room, I see different types of clocks. I noticed that the clocks were moving at different tempos. I couldn’t think at the moment. I had my eye on one clock but there were other clocks ticking and other clocks ticking at a different pace. I was lost in a room surrounded by clocks. I couldn’t stay any longer. I asked myself, how am I able to spend a day with a ticking sound that is not synchronized? Since then I haven’t been to the shop again. The spatial environment surrounded by clocks made me feel disoriented.

Referring back to Anthony Gromley’s work, Breathing Room III (2010), This experience stands in contrast to my visit to the clock store. In the case of the clock store, the sound was the focus of the disorientation within the spatial environment whereas in the Breathing Room, the act of switching the light on and off was causing disorientation.

Thinking and Choosing

For my visual essay, I decided to produce a video rather than create a collection of images in a book form. I decided to lay out the images and print out words on top of a lightbox. (words mentioned in the video are chosen intuitively and printed before recording).

I wanted to communicate the process of choosing, making a decision, and creating a dialogue with the images and the words together. There isn’t a straightforward correlation between the words and the images but placing the words below the images produces an open dialogue to the viewer or even a variety of associations.

The part where it is blank is where I was thinking. In my mind, I was thinking to myself, what images should I place? or what words should I place? or should I place the images and words together to see whether they match?

The video was unedited so the viewers could see the motion of my hands rearranging the images and the words together.

The lightbox is transformed into a field of the mind, where the viewer can observe the process of choosing, deciding, thinking, and placing.

Objects and Schema

As I started to read about the concept of schema, I found the work of “Thinking Head” by Lara Favaretto clashes with it.

Schema is a foundation that we can use to take in new information and try to search whether it makes any sense. The way our brain can organize information in our minds is like a filing cabinet.⁹

Object schemas allow our brains to categorize inanimate objects without any thoughts behind them, for example, one can understand how to use a pencil and eraser.

I decided to visit the Biennale in Venice and saw Lara Favaretto's work, "Thinking Head" (2019). The objects and words were strategically placed, creating new meanings from a different perspective.

The words were chosen by selected participants from which the artist decided. The words were debated and discussed in a bunker. Later those keywords are combined with the corresponding objects.

Schema comes along in the discussion of this chapter because when I perceive the objects, the first impression of each object and each word is implemented straight to the mind. This is because the art piece and words combined with the artwork may not seem to be related at first glance. However, as you read the word, it builds a more diverse perspective, in such a way that the word and the object intertwine and have an open dialogue behind them.

I was in the room searching for a connection. The relationship between the words and objects wasn’t aligning, which changed my interpretation, therefore I had to refine my understanding of the piece. In the work, the intention of the placement behind the provisional aspect in the objects and the words is to imitate the subdivision of the mind, the thought process, or the memory.

In line with the scene at the football stadium, the bottle belongs to somebody hence the initials of the individual. There is a significant connection and belonging but what I find intriguing is that although an obvious connection exists, the text (initials) becomes detached from the object (personal belongings). Each individual has a direct implication of the connection because of their initials applying to the bottle. But as an observer, it has a misplacement but also assumes that the object and the initials connect.

In that way, Favaretto’s work and the bottle with the initials have a resemblance.

Product Placements in Television

The placement of the object manipulates the viewer not only in an exhibition space or public space but also creates new meaning in television. Although subtle and unnoticeable for the audience to sometimes recognize. The placement of the product placement¹⁰ in television has a strong attraction for marketing.

One example that significantly raised the viewer's attention is the product placement of eggo¹¹ in the TV series, Stranger Things (2016).

While watching the TV series, there was an appearance of Eggo waffles, in this particular scene, shown in figure 11. Not only does the placement of the product influence the viewer's attention but it also saw an increase in the rise of consumption of the frozen waffle industry.¹²

The website ‘Product Placement Blog’¹³ has a record of other products that have appeared in the TV show, Stranger Things (2016). The website also shows products that have appeared in other movies and TV shows.

In this case, these products that appeared in the television show shaped a sense of the 1980s atmosphere within the set design. This example shows the subtle importance of placing in a set design. Similar to what was seen in the artworks and the placement of the personal belongings on the queue, this conveys the significance of specific placements of objects in various domains.

Conclusion

To write this thesis, with the research question: how does the placement of the object define new interpretations within the spatial environment? primarily highlighting the personal belongings on the floor, has opened up topics that I would have not touched upon. One topic that surprised me, was product placements in television. An area in which I would like to pay more attention when watching movies or TV shows. The placement has an intention, just as the placement of objects in the queue has a deliberate intention. Although subtle.

The personal belongings in a queue have three main components happening; 1) the personal belongings, 2) the initials, and 3) the person. For the queue to operate, those three components must be available. A similar connotation to a mathematical equation.

Furthermore, each personal belonging is transformed into an art installation created by the people. Initially perceived as belonging, it has also transformed into a collective of shared purpose.

Bibliography/Footnotes

[1] About | Thinking Head. (url)

[2] Ferrier, Morwenna. “the ’fun’ Queue: How Standing in Line Became an Event in Itself.” The Guardian, 9 July 2019,(url)

[3] Gillis, A. S. (2022, November 18). augmented reality (AR). (url)

[4] Main, Paul. “What is a schema in psychology?” Structural Learning, 5 May 2023, (url)

[5] Nickerson, Charlotte. “Schema Theory in Psychology.” Simply Psychology, 5 Nov. 2023, (url)

[6] Prisco, Jacopo. “Waiting Game: An Extended Look at How We Queue.” CNN, 15 Feb. 2019. (url)

[7] Sergey. (2022, July 1). Stranger Things - Product placement blog. Product Placement Blog. (url)

[8] Suttonm Kelsey. “How’d All Those Brands Get Into Stranger Things?” Marketing Brew, 1 July 2022. (url)

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¹Manuel, Laguna (2011). Business Process Modeling, Simulation and Design. Pearson Education India. p.178.↩

²Dekel-Daks, Tal. “How Does the Wimbledon 2023 Queue Work?”House & Garden, 4 July 2023.↩

³Prisco, Jacopo. “Waiting Game: An Extended Look at How We Queue.” CNN, 15 Feb.2019.↩

⁴Gillis, Alexander S. “Augmented Reality (AR).” What Is, 18 Nov.2022.↩

⁵“Launch of New IKEA Place App – IKEA Global.” IKEA.↩

⁶“Mii.” Wikipedia, 25 Feb. 2024.↩

⁷The Foundation of Vladimir Smirnov and Konstantine Sorokin. “Zhanna Kadyrova Album 2013.” Zhanna Kadyrova Album 2013, p. 108.↩

⁸Videos – Antony Gormley.↩

⁹Main, Paul. “What Is a Schema in Psychology?” Structural Learning, 5 May 2023.↩

¹⁰Product placement is a marketing technique where a chosen brand or a product is placed into another work. Product placement can be placed in films, art, or television programs.↩

¹¹Eggo is a brand of frozen waffles.↩

¹²Wittmer, Carrie. “Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ Boosted Eggo Waffle Sales Because One of the Main Characters Is Obsessed With Them.” Business Insider, 21 Feb. 2018.↩

¹³Sergey. “Stranger Things TV Show Product Placement Seen on Screen.” Product Placement Blog, 1 July 2022↩

Colophon

Graduation Thesis by Moto Sasaki

BA Graphic Design

Visual Essay Supervisor: Bart de Baets

Thesis Supervisor: Dirk Vis

Website Supervisors: Thomas Buxo & François Girard-Meunier

Royal Academy of Art, The Hague

February 2024