As visitors enter through tall black curtains they notice a low hanging fog in this small, very low-lit, cylindrical room. The ceiling is noticeably tall and doesn’t seem to have an end. The floor, walls, and bench along the wall are also dark so the space resembles a void. There are a series of sculptures emerging from the floor that are aligned in a circle and resemble short stalagmites. When visitors approach the sculptures in the center of the room they notice strange wires made of shape memory alloys in abstract shapes projecting from the stalagmites. Out of human nature, guests may handle the wires and by doing so they’ll change their shape. Shape memory alloys are special metals that can be programmed to remember and change shapes based on a specific temperature threshold. Shape memory alloys are also superelastic so they can be programmed to return to their original shape after an extreme number of deformations. The song continues to play as guests examine the sculptures. The first vocals of the song begin and a projection of flowers changing states appears on the wall above the first sculpture. The projection and vocals end in sync. This continues throughout the song corresponding to each vocal piece until the song is finished. Ambient space sounds fill the room as the song exits.

 

The primary themes of this song are isolation, reflection, and influence, or lack thereof. The room is intentionally small to discourage large groups of people. Isolation is important to No deal. not only because it’s a song about relationships and breakups but also because I feel that isolation was key to the kind of reflection I was in while writing the lyrics. 

 

Most of the lyrics are observations of how the relationships described in No deal. have influenced my feelings. The sculptures and projections are used to represent those influences in different ways. The sculptures offer an opportunity to influence the shape of the wires but the final shape that comes from the interaction is out of the influencer’s control. This directly relates to my understanding of a relationship and how the interaction and influences between people work. The projections add to the meaning of the sculptures and in combination form a code of sorts through the kind of flower and the way that they change. 

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This is a small room with relatively low stimulation between the projections and sculptures to inhabit for a 6-minute song with instrumental breaks. This encourages reflection because when there’s not much to do physically thoughts become more active and may lead to reflection about the sculptures, projections, interactions with other people in the room, and their connections. Either that or visitors will get bored and leave the room. Both are desired outcomes.