Reina Suyeon Mun, Class of 2023
SilenceTop is an interactive microarchitecture object that responds to silences in different scenarios. It is a reimagination of a low table for coffee and tea. SilenceTop aims to reframe the landscape of domestic spaces by constructing an alternate form of interactivity with the object around the subject of silence. Silence does not exist in a distinctive form. It gets recognized when the apparent social activities and sound fade out. The reading of silence varies from person to person based on their cultural background and the circumstance it is situated in. It can be regarded as a sign of respect to one while bringing awkward and anxious emotions to the others. The experience and the reading of silence the object conveys are not fixated.
The object has two modes- social and lone mode. Social mode is active when two or more people sit around the object. When silence persists for a certain amount of time in social mode, it intervenes by plucking the kalimba consisting of low-pitch semitone tines. The tones may be appealing or annoying depending on the people, but the only way to stop listening to the semitones is to open a conversation again. The aggressiveness and speed of the semitones plucked are increased with each repetition of social silence occurring in one sitting. Lone mode is active when a single person is in the vicinity or nobody is in the same space. During lone mode, SilenceTop regards silence as a need to last and appreciate. When silence occurs in lone mode, the object generates mists that permeate the room over time, creating an atmospheric and relaxed ambiance.
Reina Suyeon Mun works in the field of design and new media art. She mainly creates micro-architectures, spatial installations, reimagined devices, and objects through the embodiment of interactivity, autonomy, and behaviors. Her works aim to provide the user with space for reflections on topics ranging from social, techno-politics, and ubiquitous matters.
