For my random text generator, I decided to make an interactive “leaf and tree trunk” installation. It consists of a cylinder (sonotube), which I painted with textured spray-paint to mimic the look of a tree trunk and the inside to look like the wood if a tree trunk were hollowed out. Inside the cylinder, is a fan which is actually a duct fan originally used for boosting air circulation in houses. The fan is powered by AC electricity and is plugged into a wall socket. The cylinder is filled with various fall coloured leaves and each leaf contains a random adjective handwritten on it. My original intent was to have the fan blow the leaves out of the cylinder, however, the fan is not powerful enough to do this, so instead it just blows out the pleasant smell of the leaves. The main theme of this project is fall. It’s a great time of year to incorporate leaves because they are all changing to bright colours. The adjectives on the leaves do not have anything to do with this theme however. They are completely random and this is intentional. The main idea of the appearance was to show how nature and industry can work together, but also clash. I wanted there to be a contrast between the two. There are obvious elements of nature in this piece like the leaves, and the “tree trunk”. This contrasts very well with the industrial elements like the fan, the bolts (which I intentionally left unpainted) and the bright yellow power cord. I think this contrast works well as it wouldn’t have been so strong had I have hidden all the non-natural features. The industrial elements work well with the nature, for example the fan allows you to smell the leaves, which you normally wouldn’t be able to as much without.
