For my thesis, I created an interactive installation of three reinvented dreammachines titled, “The Magical Chromachines,” each with an accompanying mixtape; which explores the interconnectivity of color, music, and memory. This is a tool intended for both collaborative interaction and individual participation; furthering an understanding of color theory and varied perception as it pertains to design. To accurately evaluate data collected from the conducted social experiments with these stroboscopic flicker devices, I collected participants’ responses to record the variations in experience and measure the accuracy of my inquiries. By analyzing lasting influences from my past triggered by color-associated memories, reflecting on the existential theory of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean-Paul Sartre, and exploring the history of mechanically-induced visualizations, I was able to accurately convey the experiential, nostalgic, and mysterious realm of color with a well-informed installation.

The focus of my redesign was to test how color stretches the limits of our descriptive and recollective abilities and if a combination of flicker devices and music is a viable tool for achieving such states. An in-depth examination of the instinctual interconnectivity of memory, music, and color inspired my research of mechanical and closed-eye hallucinations. Ultimately, I aimed to analyze how and why machines have the potential to affect one’s visual, auditory, and mental perception and whether or not memories accessed through mechanical devices allow for both phenomenological and psychoanalytical thought. I was able to make such connections through analyzing color-triggered memories with my dissertation; hoping to encourage the reader to do the same through both personal connections and collective reminiscing.