These speakers were inspired by the Parkbench Subwoofer, which I posted a while ago. The difference between the two is that this speakersis a full range loud speaker and completely wireless. Park Bench Speakers inhabit the abandoned vacant lots that frequent the Englewood neighborhood. As structures, these speakers provide sitting space within the vacant lots, promoting a communal gathering space. The speakers are self-powered allowing the user to plug an audio device into the speaker. It also accepts radio signal, allowing multiple Park Bench Speakers to be played at once, fostering a larger gathering.
Layering: This projects incorporates a multitude of common practices. For instance, block parties are the last type of positive public group interaction in the neighborhoods. These speakers can be daisy chained together providing for block party style events. I envisioned these being sold as hollow shells. This relates to car culture in hip-hop and in the community. When one buys a car, they by it "blank", and typically customize it with their own audio accessories. This speaker housing has been optimized for good sound, so that the user is free to customize their speakers however they want. These also keep the speaker affordable. I tried layering user experiences with outdoor music in this neighborhood to come up with this project
Rupture: Why do we always make speaker housing from MDF? Its something we are condition to do. I used the theory that KRS-One discussed (it in my paper) "what we don't know teaches us as much as what we do know”. I ignored conventions of standard speaker building and experimented with the acoustical properties of concrete. What I found is that it had great audio properties as well as aesthetic appeal.
