stories are better than logic<\/strong><\/h2>\nthat december, he had an exhibition in matsudo, japan called too slow to see<\/em>. he realized that the best way to make your work accessible is to know your audience. before he started thinking about what to build, he thought about the best way to get to know the audience he was trying to connect with. he began talking to as many people as possible to get an insight on the matsudo culture, synthesizing that into information he could use for his projects.<\/p>\nhe brainstormed with post-its plastered on the walls, connecting personal stories with larger ideas, dialogue with inspiration, thoughts and feelings with broader social patterns and norms. phanichphant saw patterns between micro and macroscopic perspectives, gaining a deeper insight to what would really get through, not to just the citizens of matsudo, but to people everywhere.<\/p>\n\u200bthe planning process for too slow to see <\/em>involved an understanding of cultural attitudes and dynamics as well as problems on a global scale. understanding how these variables interact is key to creating art that resonates with viewers and, on a broader scale, ensures that those who receive your message are receptive to it (purin phanichphant).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cthe first idea i had was that stories and feelings have a greater impact than logic,\u201d he explained, an idea that exemplifies not only this series of works on climate change but in his current approach to education as well. phanichphant uses a \u201cuser-centric\u201d approach when he teaches marketing at the jacobs institute for design innovation at uc berkeley. this perspective contrasts with the often-used product-centered approach, where students will often try to sell something by extolling its features and benefits. phanichphant instead wants students to use a narrative approach to describe how the product can improve lives and and solve problems. he explained that storytelling was a crucial skill to have and it allows the artist to better connect with the people that view their work. people can read information in words and numbers, but stories are what stick with them. this insight was the foundation for the in three emojis<\/em> exhibit, in which visitors shared thoughts on climate change with emojis rather than words, like in the example below. \u200b<\/p>\nwith only three emojis to convey one’s attitude towards climate change, people were forced to distill their thoughts and succinctly explain it in three characters. this challenge guides participants to truly think about their relationship to the environment (purin phanichphant).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nlocal is better than global<\/strong><\/h2>\n\u201cthe second thing i realized was that local is more important than global,\u201d meaning that what people see around them is what they will care about. it\u2019s immediate. it\u2019s present. it\u2019s what affects our friends and our families. he needed to find a way to make climate change less of a \u201cglobal\u201d problem and more of an issue people felt connected to.<\/p>\n
thus, he designed feel the warming<\/em>, an exhibit in which a museum-goer stuck his or her head in the middle of a model of matsudo, and a heat lamp would stimulate the warming effects carbon emissions have on his or her hometown.<\/p>\na citizen of matsudo spends time in a heated model of his town of residence, connecting the global phenomena of climate change to a place with which he has social, economic and cultural ties \u200b(purin phanichphant). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\naction is better than talking<\/strong><\/h2>\nthe third insight was that action was more effective than talking. he created together we start<\/em>, or what he refers to as \u201ca piece of art in exchange for a promise.\u201d each person who interacts with the piece takes a small cartoon drawn by the artist with a pledge on the back, to do something small like eat less meat or bring a reusable bag grocery shopping. over time, as more and more people take the drawings off the wall, a message is revealed: together we start. just talking about climate change won\u2019t do much to lessen our impacts. taking the first steps to reducing one\u2019s carbon footprint while we see how we are a part of a larger effort to reduce our carbon footprint gives us some perspective on how our individual pledges combine to a greater promise to save the planet.<\/p>\nparticipants choose various pledges, inscribed with a small cartoon on the front, that are small steps for a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle (purin phanichphant).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nmany is better than one<\/strong><\/h2>\nthe final thing phanichphant wanted to emphasize was that many was greater than one. this inspired his piece connect our efforts<\/em>, the piece that catalyzed the enthusiastic participation of the young boy in the gallery. this piece illustrates the hopelessness of tackling the challenge of climate change alone and the possibility of real impact when we work together.<\/p>\nthe importance of collaboration is the thesis behind the next project he was a part of: air miners. while giving a presentation on his interactive exhibits in matsudo, phanichphant was approached to join the team as a designer. \u201cinstead of thinking of carbon as a burden, air miners frames it as something we can mine, an opportunity,\u201d he explained, comparing it to gold.<\/p>\n
the website itself is an index of all the companies working to reduce carbon emissions, bringing people that care about the issue together. \u201cit\u2019s another way to make the abstract tangible. before this website, a lot of these companies didn\u2019t know anything about each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
even though this is a niche organization, he hopes this idea of bringing people together based on a demonstrated need and a desire to help the planet trickles down and creates jobs and awareness in other places.<\/p>\n
the echo chamber<\/strong><\/h2>\nit may seem like phanichphant has reached all his goals, but he has one big problem: he\u2019s trapped in the echo chamber. \u201cin the context of art and design and even academia\u2026 the majority is on the liberal side of things, and it made me think of how my art wasn\u2019t really changing the minds of people who don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
hence the echo chamber, where we bounce our ideas in a space of like-minded people while people who have other priorities, whether that\u2019s people who are struggling to survive or people who prioritize getting rich over everything else, are outside our bubble. his next step is using a design process to answer his own question: \u201cwhat\u2019s the most effective way to change minds in the age of changing climate?\u201d<\/p>\n\u200bpurin phanichphant is a san francisco based artist and designer whose wide range of interactive exhibits include a series of pieces about climate change to artificial intelligence. he currently teaches at the jacobs institute for design innovation at uc berkeley (purin phanichphant).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
interactive artist purin phanichphant shows through his work that the way we communicate ideas is critical to creating an impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4916,4902,5196,4914],"tags":[563,3829,144,178,181,591],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-12415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate","category-colleges-education","category-past-storyfest","category-sustainability","tag-art","tag-art-activism","tag-climate-change","tag-design","tag-innovation","tag-storyfest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
changing minds in the age of changing climate - planet forward<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n