MP3 PLAYER UMBRELLA
The inspiration of the design came from 'electric tears ' by buckethead. The piece of music is broke up into three stages; reflection, reminiscing and acceptance. The song describes the cleansing process of rain.
The icon of the umbrella literally and figuratively speaks of this cleansing process; to activate the mp3 player someone has to walk in the rain with this object for the music to start. The experience achieved is the purification of the melancholy state through listening to the song while physically being rained on.
By using the umbrella as an icon the mp3 player is able to borrow so many of its functions and preconceptions of how it is meant to be used or held. The form creates an imaginary transportable space that one takes with them when they carry an umbrella, this space sets up an invisible boundary that acts as a bubble o f personal space.
The difference between the real umbrella and the side elevation of the mp3 player is the lack of physical shelter from the rain. The intention is to utilize the rain to create an experience of healing. The rain is typically a thing to avoid, so much so that we have created rain coats and umbrellas to shelter us from it. This fake fabricated shelter has prevented us from experiencing something truly beautiful. Even the concrete city can’t escape nature and its cleansing period.
The man made surrounding is the perfect setting to engage and reconnect with nature. In this one cleansing moment we could be at one with nature, with every drop of rain washing away any superficial appearance or disguises we could have had. The rain penetrates and exposes everything that is superficial, the makeup and clothes that we wear can be washed away and ruined by the rain.
SPEAKER PORTS
RAIN SENSOR