Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve felt very stuck with this project and unsure where to take it. I have big ideas that I’m very excited about; ranging from the more granular (pollution-aware wearables) to the more conceptual (can the human body be a biosensor?)
All of the things that I’d ideally like to detect, and visualize, about water (estradiol, BPA, environmental estrogens, low level pollution) are difficult to measure and at this point involve complex laboratory science with expensive equipment, precise conditions, etc. How on earth am I supposed to make a project that is impossible to make? This week, after a series of conversations (thanks Stefani and Marina!), I realized I bit off way more than I can chew — a five year project rather than a five week project. (It’s almost as if I want to fast forward, and have already worked with a nanotechnologist to create a wearable material to detect BPA in the water. Poof!)
So, I’ve decided to move away from environmental estrogens altogether (for the moment at least) and instead challenge myself with this: What can I measure about the water in a way that is cheap, easy, relatively instantaneous and which fits with my design model of swimming? What materials, tests, kits can I appropriate and use in the ways I want? How can I create what’s essentially a proof of concept to illustrate this idea of the body as biosensor for what is invisible in our environments?
Up to this point, I’ve been doing a lot of research, absorbing, thinking, writing, speculating, looking at related projects, but not a lot in the way of getting my hands dirty, being messy, prototyping, and making things that feel low stakes. My daily practice of doing dip-sticks on my water was producing nice images but was also feeling a bit feeble. So, this week, I decided to start having conversations, working with my hands, and doing some weird stuff. Here’s a recap of my progress.
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