3D project 4 間: Ma’s City Of Voids / Individual and Group Moodbox

Individual moodbox

I decided to base my moodbox off the second sound that my group mates and I created.The sound is below.

To this sound there are 3 parts:Wooden beat 4 counts,a constant scratchy sound and one count of a ringing wind chime like sound.I decided to create a tall rectangular box to create and environment that produced echoey sounds similar to the sound that we made.I lined the inside of the box(Dominant) with sandpaper to mimic that scratchy constant sound and filled the inside of the box with rice.The rice is the SD portion of the box. It also is at the base of the box as it is a lower pitched background sound.

Next to represent the 4 wooden beats in the soundtrack,I used toothpicks and pierced them on each of the four sides of my woodbox ,each tooth pick progressing higher and higher on each side towards the metal ball.In order to see each toothpick,you would have to rotate the box which also agitates the rice producing that extra “shh” swaying  sound. I chose to use wire to create a ball (SO) represent the metal chime like quality the sound had. It is high pitched ,thus it is hovering over the box.Also it is one count,so I kept the metal ball to one as well.

 
Side view of toothpicks progressing higher up the sides of the box

Top view

GROUP MOODBOX

Green strips of paper-Subdominant,Mesh wire-Sub ordinate

Metal coil-Dominant

 

 

3D project 3:Mnemosyne’s Scent

In class we were introduced to planes .Using three strips of paper with varying widths we were tasked to come up with a 3D sketch model incorporating the different types of planes: Bent planes,grouped planes,curved planes ,straight ,twisted and broken planes.We had to also keep in mind the voids and try to create contrast between the size of the voids. Also we had to ensure that there was a dominant,sub-dominant and sub ordinate strip.

FINAL 3D SKETCH MODEL

I was playing around with the different types of planes and wanted to incorporate a straight plane(SO) a curved plane(D) and a 3D bent plane(SD).Piercing,wedging and Tapering the edges of the strips of paper gave the final sketch model a more polished and exciting look.The curved dominant strip travels diagonally across the base and the SD and SO strips are rather angular compared to the D strip giving the 3D model more interest.

 
Front view

Side view - Contrasting voids
RESEARCH

Mnemonic devices are techniques a person can use to help them improve their ability to remember something. It can be a song, rhyme, acronym, image, or  in this case a scent. When you first smell a new scent, you link it to an event, a person, a thing or even a moment.These scents are linked with how we remember things and can trigger the brain to recall memories/experiences .Your brain forges a link between the smell and a memory – associating the smell of chlorine with drowning multiple times in a pool in my case, and coriander with receiving a warm home cooked meal . When you encounter the smell again, the link is already there, ready evoke a particular memory or a mood.

We were tasked to choose two scents and create a sculpture based off them. The scent that I liked was coriander and the scent that I disliked was chlorine/bleach. I began to brainstorm and think of words that will help me visualise a form/shape to the scent.

For the coriander component, I chose to represent the “surrounding ” nature of its scent.The SD wraps around the sculpture,then i proceeded to slice a little portion off the SD to act as the SO . Also making sure the plastic was clear as compared to chlorine as i wanted to represent the clean fresh smell of coriander.I created a curved plane from the top of the water bottle and manipulated it in a way such that it would curl more tightly in the centre to represent the persistence of the smell. The curve is moving in from the outside and staying in the middle. Using clear thread and wedging ,I secured the curved plane applying the rule of thirds.

After drowning many times,  I observed that  the scent of chlorine lingers at the back of my nose/throat for a long period of time.To represent that in the sculpture I made sure that the strip was wide,substantial in size,and sandpapered down to create a rough texture to mimic the burning sensation  at the back of my nose.I soldered holes throughout the strip to bring out how the smell is piercing .

I soldered the chlorine component to the coriander component to attach them together which resulted in my final sculpture.

FINAL SCULPTURE


3D:Gaia’s Ikebana(Final)

Final model

The season i drew was ‘winter’ and was tasked to theme my project in that manner.Since Ikebana is part of the Japanese culture, i decided to delve deeper into the types of foods consumed during winter in japan.I came across ‘Oden’, which is basically a one pot winter dish consisting of several ingredients like radish and fishcakes stewed in a light broth.I kept the colour scheme to white,black and silver to match the snow,trees and cold weather.Also during winter its pretty empty in a sense where the leaves have fallen off trees and white snow covers the environment,and went for a minimalistic approach.For the cone I wanted to incorporate the radish but because of the angle of the cone,it is unable to support its own weight.I used wire and shaped it to form a cone in order to to suspend tiny cubes of radish .I used a Fishball as my sphere and pierced a wooden skewer through it.Similar to how oden is served with skewers.Lastly,I painted the branch black to stick with the colour scheme.

IKEBANA RESEARCH

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement,being practiced for more than 600 years.It is a disciplined art form in which living branches, leaves, grasses, and blossoms are arranged to bring nature and humanity together.What distinguishes ikebana from other approaches such as “flower arrangement” is its asymmetrical form and the use of empty space as an essential feature of the composition. A sense of harmony among the materials, the container, and the setting is also crucial.The color combinations, natural shapes, graceful lines work together creating a beautiful arrangement. Ikebana has a recorded history; it is backed up by articulate theories; and it is concerned with creativity. In Japan, flower arrangements are used as decorations on a level with paintings and other art objects.The Japanese love nature and try to incorporate it into their everyday lives e.g. taxi drivers hang a little vase with a flower or two at the edge of the windshield.Thus, creating a link between the indoors and the outdoors.The spiritual aspect of ikebana is very important. One becomes quiet when one practices ikebana. It helps you to live “in the moment” and to appreciate things in nature that previously had seemed insignificant.It also acts as inspiration which help individuals identify with beauty in all art forms.There are a few styles of ikebana arrangement,namely,rikka,shoku,nageire and moribana.

3D SKETCH MODELS

   1st model

Dominant(D):Cylinder

Subdominant(SD):sphere

Subordinate(SO):cone

2nd model

I decided to choose this sketch model for my final project as it display precarious balance which is more dynamic and exciting.

D:cone

SD:cylinder

SO:sphere

2D SKETCH ANALYSIS

 

3D pandora box-Final

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/04/04/kengo-kuma-major-expansion-portland-japanese-garden-opens/

One of my artist/architect inspirations was Kuma Kengo.I liked how he uses wood,metal,plants and other contrasting materials to give his work a fresh,unique look.I tried to incorporate this into my final project.From my last post,I mentioned that i was going to incorporate mirror into my final design.My final 3D model is below.

I wrapped the foam at the base which is the Subdominant(SD) feature with reflective paper(mirror),substituted the stem part of my model with a wooden skewer which is the Dominant(D)feature, and used styrofoam which I painted black for the subordinate(SO) box.All three boxes have different textures and materials.The SO box has a rough matte black surface,the D is made of wood and the SD “metal”.

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I used the piercing method to allow the  SO box to slide up and down the wooden skewer so theres control over the size of void I can make.If the  base was more of a mirror material it would better reflect the size of the void.It would make it look as if it is double in size.I used a satay stick as it has little presence,which emphasises the size of the void between the SO box and the subdominant(SD) base.I

A small scale application for this model would be maybe a shower.Its minimalistic, clean and adjustable,supposing the SO box is the shower head.A large scale application would be a crane of some sort,where the SO acts as a cabin which can rotate and lower accordingly and the SD acts as the wheels or truck that usually carries these cranes.

An interesing object & 3D sketch model

An interesting object- Clipper lighter

In this post ill combine what ive learnt/documented from the past two lessons Firstly i will talk about my interesting object, this clipper lighter.

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Originally, i thought it was interesting because i liked the contrast in the colours and material,orange/silver and metal/silicone respectively.Also because it was symmetrical from most angles.However, after the lesson i realized i was not observant enough it showed me a new way to look at a products design.The images below shows what ive learnt so far,

Legend: Dominant (D )subdomninant(SD) subordinate(SO)

The orange part is the largest part taking up nearly 75% of the product is known as dominant,while the silver area is about 25% making it the subdominant and lastly the clipper logo makes up about <10% of the product making it the subordinate feature.The metal part is roughly 1/4 of the total size,which means it does not follow the rule of thirds. However i still find my lighter very aesthetically pleasing.Lines of symmetry exists in all angles except for the side view. I also noticed from the side view is that if the part that juts out was another colour it could be considered a SD feature as well.From the top view a negative void is seen as labeled in the picture above.When viewed from the bottom theres no SD only a D and SO as there are only two visible features.

3D sketch model analysis

In the following exercise, i drew the word “void”,so i had to somehow express that by using 3 boxes also known as a 3D sketch,keeping in mind that all three boxes should be visible regardless of the angle its viewed at.I used foam to replace the boxes that i didnt have as some were too big to be the subdominant part or some were too small to be considered subordinate.i had to use the foam cutter to size my boxes accordingly. The method to nice clean cuts is to push the foam against the metal frame supporting it with a gentle but firm pressure at a steady pace. Wedging,cradling and piercing were some techniques i learnt and applied to improve the arrangement of the boxes which also helped me visualize my own and my classmates’ 3D sketches in many other ways. The results are below.

I tried to express void by making the negative voids in both sketches  as large as possible and also to find a way to incorporate it in all angles.The sketch on the left illustrates more of a cluster of contrasting volumes whereas the one on the right displays more similar shapes.In certain angles you can see the contrast between the sizes of the negative voids depicted by the green and red markings in the diagram below.I also decided to mark out the voids from all angles of both the 3d sketches so they can be viewed as a whole.The dominant,subdominant and subordinate features of both the 3D sketches are apparent and all three boxes for each sketch are visible from every angle.

This is what I’ve got so far and have documented(as much of the process as i could).I feel that even though my 3D sketch models demonstrates the word “void” ,some further improvements can  be made.For example ,since i already attempted to show the rule of thirds in my sketch, try incorporating maybe “mirror” to give it an interesting touch.