Tag: light

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Week 11 Wearable Tech Updates

Last week, I was drawing this to collect my thoughts and it helped me figure out the logistics of my tech

Last week’s electronics setup:

LED + wifi
Servo + wifi

Last week’s progress:

I managed to complete the jumpsuit with help from Galina for the zippers and connecting the 2 pieces together!

Galina also taught me how to sew button holes which was very fun!!

What’s left for the jump suit is for me to hand sew the buttons, to create button holes for the sleeves, to add front pockets, and belt holding thing. But that’s not my priority now.

This week, I’m working on the cape and armour pieces.

This Week’s Progress: (incomplete as theres more days this week to work on this!)

I was playing with the materials to create the look of desert beetles, but it failed so I will just stick to the pvc without material alterations.

putting pins before heating it to create round bumps but it ended up folding
only heating the PVC creates this effect

Cutting and putting things together: I was experimenting with the materials and turns out its more flimsy than I previously thought. It’s also much thinner than I thought so it doesn’t look as good if it’s single layered. Sewing 2 pieces together makes it look better, which means now I need 2x the amount of PVC ($$$$$$$!!!!!!) but at least I have 1m left of the pink piece which I’m not gonna use as pink contrasts too much with my garment. I’m switching to green instead.

What was previously the neck piece was tested on the shoulder to see how it looks like as a shoulder piece.

I was having a hard time trying to figure out which cloth to use. Using both cloth together with the armour will make the whole look very weird. Too much is going on. Using only 1 cloth and the armour works, but I need to decide which to remove. In the end, I removed the metallic mesh cloth.

The final decision (except the pink parts will now be green)\

I also started sewing the cape piece to make it more frilly / have pleats. So yeah. (no pics tho)

So in conclusion, this week was more of a start of the next phase, and I am more or less confirmed for the entire design and I’m happy with it. I’m gonna continue the cape till I’m happy with it then I’ll start with the armour which is gonna be a pain 🙁 and I need to go buy the PVC also. Hopefully finish this by week 12 end so I can finish the electronics and have time to finish up the small details. And also work with Shah with the fashion runway!!! AHHHH!!!

Oh and also Mayle was working on a PVC vest and I took a pic of the pattern so I can tweak it (thanks Mayle!!!)

it’s actually just a pants pattern but if you drape it over the shoulder it becomes some kind of vest which looks like my chest armour!

My sketch of how I think it will look like:

The perfect vision of my garment

Ok out of topic but I think what helped me a lot was to imagine my concept as an Overwatch character. Anyway, here’s an updated concept:

Concept: nomad from a future dystopia city which is covered in dust from sandstorm due to desertification and global warming. Cyberpunk elements (iridescent armour + tech) to create a sense of urban-ness (because he’s still from a city) and sandy garment to blend with the desert city. A bit of inspiration from beetles also (in terms of their colour and appearance)

ALSO… I’m thinking what if the controller on my belt can control which city to look at. And because different cities have different temperatures and pollution levels, the values will cause the garment to react to it. Hmmm…

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Micro-Project 7: Video Selfie

Video Selfie

I am a messy artist, but that’s okay. I make things work, out of what doesn’t.

This is my performance for the video selfie. What I did was to open my wardrobe to a mess and start rummaging through it. I picked out certain objects to look at it / wear it. Finally, I found the item I am looking for and turns around, to which I pick up my phone to show what it is — a cactus and a succulent. I watered them and rotated them to reveal that there are more parts of the plants than what it was initially shown to look like.

Some screenshots:

Looking at my nerf gun
Looking at my Portal (game) poster
Looking at an old vinyl record
ONE OF THE JUNK COINCIDENTALLY LANDED IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA
Watering my plants
The final scene

 

Meaning

Here are the significant objects I used

From top left:

  • Some random junk – Junk thoughts
  • Spoilt vinyl record – My love for music
  • Whiteboard – My love for organisation
  • Poster of the game “Portal” – My love for gaming
  • Vietnam hat – Just a prop honestly
  • My plants – The representation of a good idea that can be developed
  • Batik prints from Penang – My appreciation for art
  • Nerf Gun box – My love for fun stuffs
  • Acrylic painting from Hong Kong – My appreciation for art

This video represents me as an artist in the way that I search for ideas. My mind is a haphazard mess and my ideas are represented by the objects.

By opening the wardrobe to reveal the mess, I am showing the inner workings of my mind. The items I threw out are what occupies my mind. Random thoughts, music, plannings, games and playing, art.

After searching throughout and emptying my thoughts, I found my idea and brings it to the window. These are revealed to be my cactus and succulent. I water them, which represents me nurturing the idea. Afterwhich I turn the plants to reveal that the cactus has small buddings (unintentional that it looks phallic… It’s just the way my cactus grew #dontjudge) and that the succulent have an extended part to it. This represents the way I can grow ideas to change perspectives.

Music Choice

Image taken from https://genius.com/Shura-white-light-lyrics

I chose White Light by Shura, specifically the part from 5:17~.

What I love about it is that at about 5:51, there is a sequence which reminds me of a journey (through space). I tried to time everything so this part will start when I pick my plants from the wardrobe. This represents the finding of something important and a shift in pace.

Also, this song stuck with me for about 3 years, which is a classic for me, so I thought it was appropriate to have it to represent me.

Questions

How can the video selfie be used to alter identity?

  • To me, the video selfie is just a representation of my inner identity and not something that alters it. It may be scripted, which can show people what you want them to see, so it can be faked easily. I feel that the video selfie says little about a person, unless the video selfie shows something impactful or shocking. Perhaps, like any other selfies, they are mostly insignificant.

How might video be used to conceal identity?

  • As mentioned above, it can be scripted. It can be made into a very elaborate performance, but that may not represent you.

How do the objects that surround you contribute to your sense of identity?

  • They are representation of my inner thoughts, and so they do offer some insights for others to know who I am. In some ways, the objects create intimacy.

Conclusion

Overall I want to portray myself as haphazard and messy, but also can provide the world with a piece of myself that is fresh and can change perspectives.