Project update (week 10)

Before I continue,

I would like to thank my awesome teachers:
Galina – for guiding me in the making of the dress and for the overflowing love she has for us
Naga – on the programming of the lilypad mainboard, and advices on the type and quantity of electronics I should get
Angeline – for guiding me in creating my solo performance and boosting my confidence by telling me, “You are really brave”, I really needed the courage
Randall – for the planning and behind the scenes set ups
I learnt so much from both Galina and Naga through visual learning and hands-on application of technical skills. I am very amaze at how Randall can superimpose two space into one to create the illusion that Angeline is in the same space we are at and how Angeline picks out our individual strengths to direct our performances. I am very thankful to everyone for their constant optimism and encouragement, effort and time they have put into this project. I am inspired by everyone, including my peers who have taken up this challenge with a strong, confident and courageous mindset. I will continue to do my best as an irresistible attention seeking jellyfish.

Sewing two layers to make a dress with guidance from Galina
Sewing two layers to make a dress with guidance from Galina (Photographed by Tiffany)

 

 

Making small snips on the dress along curve edges to make them more flexible. An important point was to make sure not to cut into the thread that holds the two pieces of dress together.
A secret formula: Making small snips on the dress along curve edges to make them more flexible. An important point was to make sure not to cut into the thread that holds the two pieces of dress together. (Photographed by Xin Hong, Featuring Galina)

As observed in the video, there is an irregular alignment of the zipper to the satin fabric. The cause may be due to the fact that the machine is an industrial machine and it is very powerful, producing vibrations and impact that causes the zipper to jump and misalign with the fabric. The zipper has to be removed and sewn with precise alignment, so that folds along the zipper will not show and zipping will be smoother. (Featuring Galina)

Sewing on the organza onto the satin dress (Base stitching with long stitches to put things together for a trial, not the final stitch.)
Hand-sewing on the organza onto the satin dress (Base stitching with long stitches to put things together for a trial, not the final stitch.) (Photographed by Shuai Nan)
Somethings to improve on and changes in idea:
  1. Instead of creating two layers of organza, I would be using the shorter piece to create a sleeve for the left arm.
  2. I will be creating a belt to emphasize on my waist line.
  3. I might cut a bit of the organza away near the ends so that I would not trip on my dress or tear it apart from the satin when I dance and perform with my peers.

Project Update (week 8-9)

Wearable Technology

To embark on our project on wearable technology, I went to buy cloths and electronics.

Choosing the necessary electronics

I had to choose between two types of lilypad main boards, one with USB port for charging and programming and another without the ports but with more holes. I decided to get the one with the ports so I don’t need to buy additional components, such as the ports.

Other electronics I bought include an infrared sensor, RGB LED and conductive thread.

Choosing between two Lilypads
Choosing between two Lilypads

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating textures on the surface of polyester fabric
First, I tied marbles with the polyester fabric.
First, I tie marbles with the polyester fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I have finished attaching three dimensional objects on to the polyester fabric.
End product with three dimensional objects (marbles and pleating made with aluminium foils) attach onto the polyester fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before I start boiling the fabric, I did some research to make sure that I do not burn my fabric. I made some reference to this PDF: The effect of changing temperature on polyester

Next, I wrap the fabric with the marbles in aluminium foil (like the roast chicken in NTUC) and place it in a pot to boil for about 45 minutes.
Next, I wrap the fabric with the marbles in aluminium foil (like the roast chicken in NTUC) and place it in a pot to boil for about 45 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 45 minutes, I flip open the lid of the pot to check if the fabric have change its form under heat. Apparently, it was loose. So I place it back to boil for a second time (about another 30 minutes).
After 45 minutes, I flip open the lid of the pot to check if the fabric have change its form under heat.
Apparently, it was loose. So I place it back to boil for a second time (about another 30 minutes).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the second boiling, I took out the fabric using tongs and placed it on top of a towel to cool.
After the second boiling, I take out the fabric using tongs and place it on top of a towel to cool.
After the second boiling, I took out the fabric using tongs and placed it on top of a towel to cool.
When the fabric has cooled, I remove all the marbles and aluminium foils.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the fabric has cooled
Removing the aluminum foil to reveal the pleated fabric
process 10
Pleated fabric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pleated fabric
Pleated fabric

 

 

 

 

 

 

I let the fabric dry under room temperature.
I let the fabric dry under room temperature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

process 6 process 7 process 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A second piece I made which is smaller than the first one.
A second piece I made which is smaller than the first one.

 

Testing the RGB LED with conductive thread: Apparently, the light did not light up when I used the conductive thread in replacement of wires...more testing with soldering needs to be done.
Testing the RGB LED with Arduino Uno using conductive threads: Apparently, the light did not light up when I used the conductive thread in replacement of wires…more testing with soldering needs to be done.

 

 

 

Changing the colour of the lights by working between the numbers 0 to 255 on the RGB colour codes(refer to RGB colour codes chart).
Changing the colour of the lights by working between the numbers 0 to 255 on the RGB colour codes using Arduino programming kit (refer to RGB colour codes chart). To do so, you have to download and install Adafruit_neopixel.

Credits to Nagar, Kamaru, and Randall for guidance.

RGB Colour Codes Chart

 

Working on the dress

Previously, I have created a sketch of the dress inspired by Jellyfish.

Sketch of Jellyfish dress
Sketch of Jellyfish dress

With guidance by my professor, Galina, I have managed to create a simple dress with some alterations made to the initial sketch.

Dress idea 1
Dress idea 1
Dress idea 2
Dress idea 2
Dress idea 3
Dress idea 3
Dress idea 4
Dress idea 4
Dress idea 5
Dress idea 5
Close up of asymmetrical layering of fabric
Close up of asymmetrical layering of fabric
Top view
Top view

More coming up…

Micro-Project: Costume Design

A jellyfish has no ears or eyes or nose and no brain or heart! They do not even have a head. Their body is almost totally made of water and is soft having no bones at all. Jellyfish are invertebrate animals because they do not have a spine or backbone.

My Idea

In my opinion, touch is a shock that can be comforting. When my skin brush across someone else’s, I feel an electric shock traveling up my nerves. This tingling sensation gives me goosebumps and a strong emotion of excitement. The tremors running through my body sounds like an alluring melody sang in high-pitch vocals. At the same time, the tremor resembles a million fire ants crawling up my four limbs, constantly biting me at every millisecond. The result is fear, followed by numbness and the gradual transition to desensitization. I perceive desensitization as a climax of an emotional responsive state when I no longer feel anything through touch – when touch becomes incapable, thus intangible.

However, the desire to touch and to be touch is innate in us. We seek for comfort when we are shock and we seek for shock when we are in comfort. This cycle continues endlessly.

When touch reaches a climax, it can only repeat itself.

In a virtual world, in separate spaces, we are limited to touch through our physical boundaries. We can only make use of our visual and auditory senses along with the aid of different types of programmed sensors to guide us through our exchange in touch.

Concept Statement

Something in another space triggered movement in my space through my sense of sight. In blue, yellow and red led, the colours fuses together at different combinations of flashing intervals to produce green, purple and orange. The flashing light represents the pulsing of a heart that a jellyfish doesn’t have. The pulsing heart dies and revives almost immediately with every single stimulation from another spaces that intrudes my space, causing different sets of movement running through my body.

I intend to use about 6 sets of 3 led lights – red, yellow, blue, scattered randomly around the flares of a white dress. Nine led lights will be sewn on the front and nine on the back of a dress. Each led will be connected to a Lilypad that will be sewn onto the abdomen portion of the dress. There will be a motion sensor sewn to the chest area which will detect my movement as I wave my hands across it causing the lights on the flares of my dress to light up.

Sketch of Jellyfish dress
Sketch of Jellyfish dress
Side view
Side view
Front View
Front view
Back view
Back view
Mood board
Mood board

 

Project Hyperessay #1: Concept Statement / Narrative Overview

My Idea:

In my opinion, touch is a shock that can be comforting. When my skin brush across someone else’s, I feel an electric shock traveling up my nerves. This tingling sensation gives me goosebumps and a strong emotion of excitement. The tremors running through my body sounds like an alluring melody sang in high-pitch vocals.

At the same time, the tremor can make one fearful. Tremors can come in the form of a million fire ants crawling up my four limbs, constantly biting me at every millisecond, or a numbing shock from the sting of a jellyfish while swimming in the cool embrace of the waters. The result is fear, followed by numbness and the gradual transition to desensitization. I perceive desensitization as a climax of an emotional responsive state when I no longer feel anything through touch – when touch becomes incapable, thus intangible.

CSIRO_ScienceImage_11133_Tropical_fire_ant-min
A fire ant

 

 

Awesome-Jellyfish-Wallpaper-Ocean-Deep
A Jellyfish

However, the desire to touch and to be touch is innate in us. We seek for comfort when we are shock and we seek for shock when we are in comfort. This cycle continues endlessly.

When touch reaches a climax, it can only repeat itself.

In a virtual world, in separate spaces, we are limited to touch through our physical boundaries. We can only make use of our visual and auditory senses along with the aid of different types of programmed sensors to guide us through our exchange in touch.

The Narrative I envision:

The concept of my narrative revolves around the theme of ‘Touch’ in a futuristic context. Imagine, in a futuristic world, how will touch be like? As science advances along with the scientific knowledge and craftsmanship learnt through biomimicry, we venture into the realms of technology and eventually use the craft to replace the role of Mother nature. These effects are already evident now: rats can be made to glow in the dark, cellulose can grow into clothes, clothes will open up in vents when we sweat.

In addition, we can change our environment to suit our needs: plants are watered at regular timings with an irrigation system, we can control the temperature of our environment with the invention of air-condition, we can modify the weather so that rain happen through cloud seedling. Our environment is no longer the same and we can expect these external changes to reflect in us too. We do not need to talk to communicate our ideas across to one another. We can interact across different spaces. Maybe we can even interact in our dreams. We look different. We take on different personas inspired from the skills we learnt from mother nature.

Plants are watered at regular timings
Plants are watered at regular timings

 

we can control the temperature of our environment with the invention of air-condition
we can control the temperature of our environment with the invention of air-condition
Cloud-seeding-diagram-2010
we can modify the weather so that rain happen through cloud seedling

We interact with each other while we are in separate cubicles through seeing and hearing. We move in short actions, like a programmed machine running through a series of causes and effects stimulated by what we see and hear. Somewhere, there is light. Somewhere this light causes movement in another space through sight. Somewhere the movement bring about sound. Somewhere, there is sound. Somewhere this sound causes movement…and the cycle repeats.