“Shelter”

Script Writing · Robotic Code (Arduino) · Electronic Wiring · Fabrication/Assembly

Laser-cut scrap wood and recycled coffee filters as curtains were assembled into a three-dimensional architectural model home with integrated Arduino-controlled LED lighting and audio. The LEDs are wired throughout the two-storey model and coded to flash in sync with the story/narration.

What seems at first glance like a haunted house with a monster terrorizing a family inside, this piece explores the taboo subject of abuse in the home. Media classically portrays abuse as “stranger danger” and rarely addresses the statistics, which show that 90% of children are abused by someone they know and trust. The audio projecting from the house follows the first-person account of a little girl living in a house where a monster terrorizes the family occupying it. The LED lights flash from inside the home, following the story progression throughout different rooms in the house, revealing in the end, the true horror inside.