Push/Pull is an installation which places a visitor in a situation that demands a rethinking of how to interact with the architectural surroundings. Designed to both attract and repel, to allow affordances and deny movements, the architectural space requires new positionings and new directions of movement to explore the space. The project was inspired by the works and writings of Arakawa and Gins, and by the analysis of the senses used for moving through and perceiving space. The angular design was chosen to offer straight lines but no horizon, no ninety degree angle corners, no evidence of what is absolutely vertical or horizontal, in order to throw off the most commonly used methods of placing one's self in relation to architectural surroundings. Low ceiling height and uneven floor force the visitor to bend and stretch in unusual and often uncomfortable ways, slowing one's motions and focusing attention on positioning. The room was built as though flipped onto its side, with the floor on the right-hand wall and the ceiling on the left when entering the space. Lastly, the size of the table, chair and light bulb were chosen to be very small to make the visitor a kind of giant within the space, putting into question self-perception of size or dimension. My intention was to require the visitor to seek new methods for engaging the space. By denying the visitor an easy reference point s/he must use senses beyond vision to find balance and move about. In order to locate one's self inside the space, to be able to answer which way is up or down, what is vertical or horizontal, how big am I, and so on, the visitor must become aware of mechanisms of perception that are often ignored. To reinforce the idea of using new mechanisms to adapt to the surroundings, a diagram of the vestibular system and the other senses required for motion and engaging with one's surroundings was placed on the wall.
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