and Tribulations

 We set up a number of trials to test the paper, paint and ink, to get the most suitable consistency and to see how the paper reacted to the paint, how many steps the paint lasted for and how well the plastic shoe covers absorbed the paint. 

Steps 1 and 2

Steps 3, 4 & 5

Steps 6, 7 & 8

Step 9 & 10

Steps 11, 12 & 13

Acrylic Ink and Poster paint

Poster paint

Acrylic Ink

Acrylic ink in water - too runny and absorbed too much into the paper, ran out too quickly
Poster paint - too thick, slippery under foot and pulled the paper up, ran out too quickly
Poster paint and water - mix needed refining, still too thick, ran out too quickly

Poster paint and acrylic ink and water - good consistency,  lasted longer but still not long enough

We are going to have to use a set of paint trays at both ends of the installation, for participants to 'reload' their paint at the half way point.
We also realised that moving huge pieces of paper, covered in wet paint, in and out of the unit will be a nightmare. The paper is too fragile, and the paint would be too wet. Also this would take up a lot of time, preparing the unit for the next participant. We need to make sure that people aren't waiting around for ages and loose interest. It should be quick, and fun so more people want to take part. 

In our next set of testing we need to make sure we can get a good still image from the GO Pro camera of the final test sheet for each participant, so we can dispose of the sheets straight away. We also need to test the microphones, as we may need to abandon the idea of using an ambient mike to pick up the sound. This would be a shame, however, we can easily keep a record of the sounds the participants choose, and recreate their sound profiles digitally. The plus side to this is that the quality of the sound will be better in the final outcome but the nuances, footsteps, voices, and other reactionary sounds will be missing.