Sensory Suitcase

Suitcase Briefcase Luggage Trunk Handbag Pocketbook Baggage Purse Satchel Valise Backpack Carry-on Knapsack Bundle Basket Rucksack

This quarter-long project had multiple phases, adapting to the changing restrictions of Covid-19 quarantines. In the first phase, each student reconfigured a suitcase purchased second-hand to become a portable 3D artwork. The Sensory Suitcase was both an informational introduction and a sensorial experience of their organism and its habitat. Students also considered concepts of home, belonging, travel and migration from their Positionality Bios, to reflect on change and disruption in habitats. 

In the second phase, Art & Ecology students collaborated with Professor Sasha Petrenko’s Intermedia students to create habitat sound art pieces, and incorporated sound into their suitcases with hidden speakers. In the third phase, the Sensory Suitcases became the centerpiece of individual actions of community engagement outdoors and beyond the campus.

(Artist credits here)