Seven Mile Boots: the design process of a wearable art piece

Abstract

This paper outlines the design process of the project ‘Seven Mile Boots’, a wearable art piece. Using the Seven Mile Boots, a user can travel seven miles in one step and traverse virtual social spaces of communication. The piece was often perceived as product design because it draws from the experience with everyday objects: boots. By giving an overview on our three main design instruments—Guiding metaphors, prototypes and experiments—we hope to shed light on some aspects of design. Guiding metaphors are important in order to communicate and develop ideas in groups. Prototypes allow for testing a design with an audience in an experiment. The focus of this paper is on the interplay between art, design and technology in the production process.

Keywords:

• Media art
• Wearable systems
• Design instruments
• Metaphors
• Art and design
• Experimental design

Acknowledgements

This project was carried out with the help of too many people to mention all of them. We could never have accomplished it without the support from the Boot Factory in Helsinki, the Office for contemporary art and the Atelier Nord in Oslo. We also have to thank Raimo Beloff, the Kunstnerens Hus in Oslo, the Kiasma Museum for contemporary art, AVEC and the central committee for art in Finland.