The Weight We Share

The Weight We Share is an interactive installation built with Joshua Pothen and Erinma Arki that uses a cartoonist aesthetic to explore a simple truth: no one is meant to carry their burdens alone.

A character named Bob struggles to move boxes representing life's responsibilities. Left alone, the boxes won't budge. But when viewers approach and engage, a webcam running real-time pose detection via ML5.js signals an Arduino board, which drives servo motors in a rack-and-pinion system — physically moving the boxes and transforming isolated struggle into collaborative action.

The piece draws on Antony Gormley's participatory public art, Suzanne Dikker's Mutual Wave Machine, and the visual language of LEGO minifigures and Honoré Daumier's expressionist weight studies. The result is a system where presence alone becomes an act of care.

Built with P5.js for visuals, ML5.js for computer vision, and Arduino + servo hardware for physical feedback. Created at OCAD University in the Digital Futures program (DIGF 6037).