monty charlotte

preston



About


Systems & Communities

-> Dating in Older Adults
→ Wobble Maze
→ Art on [ Ledger ] Market
→ Thesis: Entangle!


Objects & Experiences

→ Snuffy
-> Biometric Wearables
→ Zine by Boys Club
-> BAGGS



Wobble Maze



The Wobble Maze is the product of a five-week sprint to design a public intervention on the School of Visual Arts campus, developed under the guidance of Sigi Moeslinger and Masamichi Udagawa of Antenna Design.

Accommodating up to 4 players, the Wobble Maze creates an opportunity to connect with fellow students and members of the SVA community, while exercising physical coordination and strategy skills. The goal of “get the ball in the hole” is made more challenging (and rewarding!) as the Wobble Maze is suspended on springs, creating an unstable surface that has to be manipulated in cooperation with other players. 



Duration:

January - February, 2025

Credits:

Ben Hone
Qian (Jessie) Wang
Shiyu (Lynn) Zhang
Monty Preston 
Key Contributions:

Concept Development, Structure Design and Build, Copywriting


Rendering by Qian (Jessie) Wang


As graduate students, we knew we wanted our installation to provide opportunities to blow of steam, engage in play, and connect with fellow members of the SVA community.  


How might we encourage cooperative play between members of the SVA community through a campus-based intervention?




Aesthetics



We chose a recognizable game that required no instructions, making participation easy and approachable: get the ball into the center hole. The structure uses eye-catching, high-contrast color to grab the attention of passersby. The maze itself takes the shape of the SVA logo, participating in the long-held practice of creative logo-play by students, faculty and alumni.

Structure Design

To achieve the game objective, players must tilt the floor of the maze by pushing down on the board edge, causing the ball to roll. The maze is intentionally too large to manipulate on your own, forcing an interested player to find someone else to play with!

Red dowels make up the walls of the maze, and create a satistfying tick-tick-tick noise as the ball rolls alongside them.

Thicker dowels run from the bottom of the tilting board into the flat top of the base, resting inside of springs, acting like pistons and allowing the maze to be pushed down and rebound back with little friction.



Future Iterations

Changes to the edge of the maze board (peg-free designated holding areas) would make handling the tilt-board easier. We also hope to explore different heights and sizes of the structure, to improve accessibility and include more players.

While we see the Wobble Maze living comfortably in an indoor common space, the next iteration of this design should explore different materials that improve durability and weather-proof the structure to be suitable to the outdoor campus. By containing the maze under a top cover of plexiglass, and using a pinball-style mechanism to return the ball into play, we could prevent debris falling in and accidental loss of the ball. Further, updating the base with a central cut out would prevent garbage accumulation–all updates which would increase the lifespan of the game and structure.



~ Always a work-in-progress~