Laughing Fool
Role
Visual Designer
Timeline
Fall 2025
Tools
Arduino, DALL-3, ChatGPT, 3D Printers, Soldering Metals, Pressure Sensors
Visual Designer
Timeline
Fall 2025
Tools
Arduino, DALL-3, ChatGPT, 3D Printers, Soldering Metals, Pressure Sensors
I worked in a team of three students to select an artpiece from the Davis Museum and transform the piece into an accessible, tangible mode of interaction. We decided to choose the painting, “The Laughing Fool” and focus on modes of touch, sound, and sight so viewers could interact with an otherwise flat, untouchable painting. I constructed the majority of the headpiece, while researching the importance of accessible design in international art museums and institutions.
How might we use a multi-modal approach to transform a traditional, 2-dimensional artwork into something more accessible and tangible?
The Laughing Fool, made accessible, is a tangible artwork with different sensory focal points to make the traditional painting more accessible for viewers with diverse learning needs.
First Designs
On the left image is the first prototype for imaging this work, and the right image is the final prototype.
Historical Context
The character, “The Laughing Fool,” embodies the 16th century metaphor of looking through ones’ fingers. This metaphor symbolized a willful ignorance of adultery at the time, which is why the character has on a jester-like cap with bells and laugh. In our concept of the hood, we chose an intricate hood design similar to the one the character is wearing, with donkey ears and spikes, and different textures of fabric so viewers could interact with the hat better.
Additionally, the painting creates a tension between the humor and darker implications of ignorance and moral failings. We highlighted this through presenting ourselves wearing the final hood, and inviting viewers to put it on as well.