physics in 4 gifs is designed to make complicated physics simple, approachable, and social. The website concept is inspired by coursework and research in human-centered design, developmental relationships, and constructivism at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
In designing this concept, I was influenced by the writing of Edith Ackermann. In “Perspective-Taking and Object Construction,” Ackermann mentions an experiment called the Shadow Box, in which children were given a 2D representation of a 3D object from different angles. In order to form a mental image of the object, they had to talk with each other and share their perspectives. She writes:
Objects are never visible. They are always ‘hidden’ in the sense that they do not present all their faces at once. As in the shadow-box task, people necessarily reconstruct objects, for themselves and with others. They do so by keeping hold of partial presentations as seen from specific station points, and by imposing stabilities upon reliable changes in presentations, as noticed through moving around in consistent ways.
When we watch something and we learn from it, I believe we are building a perspective. Like Ackermann’s perspectives of objects, the perspectives we build are not constant. They are made to be shared with and imposed upon by others. As we “hold” more partial representations, we get a better picture of what we want to understand. Our perspectives flourish and become more full as we exchange them.
So, building off of my physics background, I created animated conversation supplements. I designed an accompanying website with interactive components to help watchers stop watching so that they can start talking.
My hope is that I have found and catered to an inward thing that all watchers and learners are doing. Like with the Shadow Box, they are building perspectives (on Gravity or any concept) to share and construct upon further. I’m just here to give them something to talk about.
Check out a rough prototype of the website here: 4gifs.webflow.io
