DN1003 Foundation 3D Assignment 3: For Emiko’s Kind (Part 2)

A Bio-radiator for Emiko’s Kind

After working on part one, I was thinking of what I could make with the material.

Because of the way it can curve, I wanted to make a cap or head gear but I felt like it would look like a torture device. I also thought of making it an arm piece.

I ended up choosing to make a vambrace (arm guard).

I struggled with the organic material so I tried changing the material of the washers to cardboard and making rings out of paper to connect it to the metal washers but they look weird and out of place.

I also wanted to use cotton, but I realised they trap heat instead of cooling down the body.

In the end, I decided to use bamboo tooth picks to mimic bamboo mats that absorb heat and regulate the body temperature.

We also had to do research on bio radiators and I sketched out the main components of a bio radiator

I decided to use the water pump system and mimic the large surface area of the radiator by coiling wires and rubber tubing

Because of the properties of the washers, the vambrace is also collapsible.

The Final Work

References:

“Song Dynasty Commander Armor.” Digital image. Accessed November 21, 2018. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f4/8c/b7/f48cb7937bf98dfea3bcf021b38892ae.jpg.

Digital image. Accessed November 21, 2018. https://www.setadirect.com/images/images_big/ mats/cm713.jpg.

“How a Radiator Works in Automobile.” Digital image. Accessed November 21, 2018. http://www.mechanicalbooster.com/ wp-content/uploads/2017/12/how-radiator-works.jpg.

DN1003 Foundation 3D Assignment 3: For Emiko’s Kind (Part 1)

Morphogenic Studies

When I first heard of this project, I knew I wanted to use washers so I had to look for SEM photos with circular modules. I found a SEM of fish scales and I thought it was perfect because I could use washers to recreate it.

Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) convict cichlid fish scales and skin (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum)

I did some sketches of the arrangement of the washers before actually working on them.

 

I wanted to tie the washers with string but the string is fragile and snaps easily due to the weight of the washers so I ended up using staples.

I didn’t have enough of the thinner washers so I bought another type of washers and did my part 1 with it

References:

“Convict Cichlid Fish Scales, SEM.” Digital image. Accessed November 21, 2018. https://www.sciencesource.com/Doc/SCS/Media/TR1_WATERMARKED/b/0/3/6/ SS21052219.jpg?d63657842614.

DN1003 Foundation 3D Assignment 2B: En Pointe

Act I (Yellow) of Triadisches Ballett (Triadic Ballet)

After watching the video and doing some research on the dance piece, I derived 2 words from the dance and tried to think of ways to express the words

  •  Mechanical
    • Wooden kinetic sculpture/Wood + Strings (Puppet)/Robot?
  • Geometrical
    • Different shapes

While researching for kinetic sculptures I found a reference that reminded me of the double pendulum and I was thinking that I could make use of physics toys (Drinking bird, Helicone, Perpetual motion machine) in my sculpture.

Kinetic Sculptures

I first tried making a double pendulum with paper and inserted clay in some areas to make it heavier. I realised it was quite difficult to make it work so I didn’t use it.

I also thought of making a puppet or robot since the dance was rigid and it reminded me of this exhibition I saw in Taiwan.

Maze Theater by Lee Tzu-hsun

After the group consultation, I got to know that the video is supposed to show Flow vs Rigid/Natural vs Mechanical. I went back to watch the video and I thought it looked like a kids show, so I was thinking I could make  a mechanical toy with natural materials.

Mechanical Toy

While researching on mechanical toys, I found a website that teaches people to concepts behind the toys and how to make it (http://www.mechanical-toys.com). The website shows that the mechanical toy works by turning the rotational motion into an up/down one but I wondered if it was possible to change the axis of rotation instead.

I tried to research on that but only found bevel gears which I can’t really make without a machine or 3D printer so I decided to just go ahead and make a small model to see it the normal gears could work.

Since the small model worked, I decided to stick with the idea and make the large one. For the large one, the measurements of the gears needed to be more accurate so I used a template to help me get the measurements (http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html).

To make the gear, I first cut the wood to the size I want the gear to be. Then, I cut the corners to form an octagon and then into a hexadecagon. Afterwards, I sanded the edges to form a circle. Finally, holes were drilled into the circle so I could cut out the teeth of the gear.

After assembling the model, I realised that the gears weren’t smooth enough so I took them out and sand the teeth of the gears to make them slightly rounder.

I was told that I could put a natural object on top of mechanical base to show the contrast between the natural and mechanical elements. I did some research and found an artist (Myeongbeom Kim) that uses a mix of natural and man-made materials in his sculptures.

Birth by Myeongbeom Kim
Untitled by Myeongbeom Kim
Untitled by Myeongbeom Kim

I wanted to add tree branches at the top to make it look like a carousel. I couldn’t find a lot of tree branches so I took it from a plant instead.

It ended up looking quite interesting but it did not have the impact of the dance so I tried to think of other natural objects that would have the shape of a carousel:

  • Mushroom -> hard to find a large one
  • Broccoli -> has the same impact as the video (unexpected, weird), also resembles a tree where wood comes from

In the end, I decided on a broccoli. I drilled a hole in the broccoli and attached it the the mechanical base.

DN1003 Foundation 3D Assignment 2A: Polyhedron Dreams

RESEARCH

Planes

After knowing we had to use basic geometrical planes for the model, I tried searching for planar sculptures and found this interesting sliceform planar sculpture.

In class, we learnt that the planes don’t have to be flat. The sculptures made by Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner are some examples that consist of curved planes.

Lines + Planes

I thought that the idea of using straight lines to form a curve was interesting. There was a picture of a sculpture similar to this being shown in class but I couldn’t find a picture of that sculpture.

References:
https://sculpturecourse.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/v-sliceform-color1.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/15/97/95/159795ec2662ada1d8ad38e5ce9745e2.jpg
https://dg19s6hp6ufoh.cloudfront.net/pictures/613064517/large/The_Black_Lily_%28Spiral_Construction%29__1943_Bronze_by_Antoine_Pevsner.jpeg?1470823148
https://a.1stdibscdn.com/archivesE/upload/f_10624/f_59992931479599137307/20161119_124320_master.jpg

 

PROCESS

Planes

At first, I wanted to use the letters from my name to form the model.
I made a small model using paper to see if it works, then I did a larger model with cardboard.
 

After I realised that we were suppose to use basic geometric shapes for the planes, I tried experimenting with the different shapes and arrangement using paper.

I wasn’t satisfied with what I made and since it wasn’t done with proper measurements, it would be difficult to replicate it with cardboard. After researching, I decide to make a sliceform model so I tried it using paper again.

The model ended up looking symmetrical and boring so I thought of making it look different from every side. I wanted it to show a square, circle and triangle on each side. It was difficult to do this with the small model so I made a larger one with cardboard.

As I had to make sure the model only took up the volume of the tetrahedron, I couldn’t really vary the shape of the model so I decided to cut up the shapes instead. I also tried to include a curved plane into my model.

Lines + Planes

I tried to use blutack on a small wire model to figure out how to make the curve using straight lines as blutack can stick on to the wire without glue. When it worked, I did it with wires on a slightly larger wire model.

I wanted to use the idea of making the model look like a square, circle and triangle on each side since I could break free from the tetrahedron structure for this model. I found out that a tetrahedron can fit into a cube and decided to work on that idea and extend the tetrahedron.

I liked how it looked so I decided to make a larger wire model and soldered to wires together. Then, I realised that there weren’t any planes so I added so planes that were similar to that of my sliceform model but tried it on the smaller model first. I found that it kind of puts emphasis on the curve made by the straight lines. I tried putting the planes on the outside and inside of the model but it didn’t look as interesting when the planes were outside.

As I felt that there wasn’t a disintegration, I tried making smaller models to add on to the larger models but they didn’t seem to fit and looked like there was too much going on.

In the end, I just left it as it was and didn’t add the smaller models.

 

FINAL

Planes


The final model is a sliceform model of a tetrahedron with cutouts that form a square and a circle. It also includes a curved plane.

Lines + Planes


The final model looks different from every angle and still uses the idea of the sliceform from the planar model. It is breaking away from the tetrahedron structure.