20110811

Lorna's Bathroom Diary

Objective: To monitor my bathroom usage, what I do in the bathroom and to clarify daily routines or deviations from routine for myself [in the bathroom]. To include other bathroom activities in my research project and design for them. 

Commencement: Friday 12th August 2011, at 3.00pm

Each day I will record what I do in the bathroom through notes, sentences, diagrams and film studies. At the end of each day I will sketch a quick drawing of what I imagine that day's bathroom to look like - using activities to generate form. This will be used alongside existing digital modelling already completed to create a unique daily 'bath-room'. 

Film studies will be conducted on a daily basis to record the sound of the bathroom throughout my duration within the space, and a visual recording will be conducted also (to be determined yet). 

Entering the bathroom, I will take note of date, time and reason for entering. As I am conducting my bathroom activities I will record what I am doing/have done. At the end of each day I will scan the diary onto this blog.

This analysis of my bathroom will be conducted over a month period starting from today. 

Supervision notes

_Skype! Need to fix problem. I re-tested it from my laptop to my parents PC and it worked so hopefully it will be fine for next session, but we could still do a test run.

_Make list more specific to me, could have a list/record of what I do daily. Keep a pencil & paper in the bathroom? Have a diary over a period of time (week, month etc) - will probably go for a month but start using the data immediately.
 - - - - could do a quick sketch/model of each day's bathroom?? What would today's bathroom require? Visual and literary diary.
Keep track of what happens in my bathroom everyday - bored of routine and deviate? The more I add the denser it will become i.e. "Contacts in before nasal spray".

_Could keep a film diary. Film myself in the bathroom everyday - not just showering or bathing, but the other routines that I do. Hair, moisturize, make-up.

_Be specific. When I say moisturize I need to specify how I moisturize, with what do I moisturize and where? How long does it take me, how much do I apply and make it personal to me. Otherwise it could be anyone, has to be specific!

_Gender wasn't obvious on the previous list until I mentioned make-up - imagine that more things I do will be gender-specific. Georges Perec - Species of Spaces - looking at home in terms of rituals of life. Request from Massey and Google. See if anything else by him catches my eye. Initimus - might be a useful taster.

_Copper - what can copper do? Material properties, how can it be used? Need to know how a material works if I'm going to pursue the qualities of a material.

_If entirely digital, will need ti address the qualities of the material through digital work. How do I do that?

_Google survey? What do I do in the bathroom? See what comes up - they may be things I haven't considered yet and I might need to do so.

_Think backwards. Think about the end result/final presentation/exhibition. What do I want to have? Then I know what I have to do.
Give myself short deadlines which I have to complete - stay creative.

_Crit 2. Crit is going to be over 2 days so we have the opportunity to think things through - where do we want to present, how do we want to present? Think about how things are going to be exhibited.
 - - - - - Soundscape. This could be from my diary. Filmic diary. Present sounds of the bathroom as an accompaniment to my presentation? How does this aid my work? How do I interpret in terms of design?

_Writing workshop. Find out when my flights are to Wellington and tell JP so I can attend.


What do I use the 'bathroom' for?

Primary uses of my bathroom are:

  • shower or to bath
  • dry myself after washing
  • moisturize
  • apply creams to my skin (medication for eczema)
  • get dressed after cleaning/moisturizing
  • wash my hands
  • brush my teeth
  • look in the mirror
  • brush/do my hair
These uses are mostly a linear process of a rigorous daily routine I personally have to maintain. 
Shower/bath > dry > moisturize > apply creme > apply steroids (if necessary) > wash hands of steroids > get dressed > do my hair.

Secondary uses of my bathroom:

  • apply make-up (occasionally)
  • relax
  • think
  • do nothing, place to just day-dream
The bathroom for me is very much a functional room primarily, it is a place for me to clean myself and take care of my skin (which requires a lot of creams, steroids and a strict routine to keep it maintained). Secondary to this, it is a place for me to think, process, relax and get away from the rest of the house and be by myself - to me it is a room I can guarantee no interruptions and allow me to be by myself. 

The above speak to specific rituals my bathroom has to be able to accommodate. 

My 'Bathroom'_03.08.11

Got my laptop back so now I can get back to what I was working on before it's meltdown.

03.08.11
Bathroom Revelations

At home in Chch: Cleaning/cleansing rituals have changed slightly - they are still rituals as they are specific action I perform when I  have a bath or a shower - but my body is now occupying a different space to the one it was occupying in Wellington. This, to me, reinforces the need to move around the space/vessel provided our bodies are provided with as opposed to our bodies being able to move in a free-flowing motion and avoid these existing walls etc.

Film studies_Part 2_Chch
Film myself showering/bathing/cleaning/cleansing in my new home. Compare these films to the existing films I have of myself in Wellington. Highlight the specific rituals for myself and reflect on findings.

_Investigations into my shower in Chch and how it compares to Wellington. Diagrammatic sketches.
Shower/bath, Wellington
Standard vessel with shower curtain around side and foot of bath, tiled wall on opposite side with small window at shoulder height and tiled wall with shower head on it.
1
Shower, Christchurch
Shape of shower (or area to shower in comparison to Wellington) is more fitting to the body as it would typically shower. Shaped for your arms/washing hair etc but only facing as you walk in, no room for rotation. Glass door and small side panels with splash-guard walls.
2
3
The shower is well designed in plan for facing the drain (image 2), but as you can see from image 3 of the shower, there isn't much room for rotation. 

___for bath as well - sketch