DN1011 Form & Visualisation Assignment 3: – Aural – Visual Dislocation – An Installation Piece

Part 1: Prelude – Site & Ergonomic Studies (Pair Work done with Wei Lin)

Link to slides:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iumuLpGXtiEtbmYVOMgAn5PMQjV1AbCsrxG9DGw_9Ow/edit?usp=sharing

Part 2: Installation Design (Individual)

DN1011 Form & Visualisation Assignment 2B: Thinking Through Making

Part 1 Designing through details

I was quite worried when I heard we had to weave again for this assignment as I had trouble weaving for assignment 2A. For part 1, we had to choose a minimum of 2 verbs and try to express them using the weave and another material with a larger surface area in 4 study models. I thought that ‘cradle’ was the easiest so I thought of two ideas using that — a phone cover and bottle holder.

As I was trying to think of ideas for another verb, I thought of including ‘grab’ and ‘slide’ in the phone cover.

After working on the phone cover using rattan, I realised it didn’t work the way I wanted as the rattan was too thick. The ‘slide’ didn’t work and the ends didn’t close up well. In the end, I had the cover to ends with cardboard and the grabbing part was permanent.

As I spent too much time to make the phone cover, I decided not to do the bottle holder but something simpler next. I tried making ‘bind’ using ice cream sticks and string in a way that it can flip continuously.
IMG_1539

As I was thinking of what the do for the 3rd study model, Wei Lin suggested that I could replace the sliding lid of a box that I made with a weaved pattern to make ‘slide’. I tried it out and it was quite nice so I replicated it and made a larger box to fit the 10cm requirement. The box was made out of ice cream sticks and satay sticks + weaved cardboard strips.

After consultation, I was told to try out ‘puncture’. My idea of ‘puncture’ would be something sharp emerging from the weave pattern so I made a “sharp” structure using cardboard.

Drawings for study object:

Part 2 – Vessel to be Held, Worn or Carried

For this project, I wanted to make something that I can actually use so I decided on making a bag. My original idea was a squarish 3 in 1 bag that can be used as a bagpack, sling bag and hand-carried bag. The verbs I wanted to include were bind (for the lid) and slide (for the handle).

However, I thought that a 25cm x 22.5cm x 6cm bag couldn’t hold a lot of things so I changed it to 32cm x 24cm x 10cm so that it could hold A4 sized things. I also realised that it would be difficult to make the handle slide and the handle should not be attached to the lid as the lid come off if the bag is too heavy (the lid is only binded on one side so the bind is not very strong) I also wanted to add a buckle-like thing in front to make sure the lid is bounded more tightly when it’s closed.

I first made a tiny prototype of the bag using cardboard strips and foam to see how it would look like. I was satisfied with the dimensions so I decided to go with it.

Due to the way I’m weaving, I had to start with the bind part first. I used leather cord and metal wire since it is stronger and keeps it’s shape better. I used the same pattern as my ‘bind’ study model and replicated it on the other side as well. I spent a lot of time trying to bind it as the space for the cord is quite small.

I continued with the frame using rattan and started weaving.

For the lid, I used a rattan frame with cardboard and covered it with 2 pieces of foam. I tried stitching the foam together but I failed so I ended up using uhu glue to stick them together. I added a nother layer of foam on the underside to make it stronger and  it ended up forming a catch for the lid so it doesn’t open easily (so I didn’t need a buckle anymore).

As the dimensions for this bag fits a bagpack more, that was what I had in mind when I made it. But since there were holes (lack of materials + too tight to weave) on the bag, I realised I could hook the handles there and still make it a 3 in 1 bag.

More photos of final product:

Orthographic drawing:

Isometric drawing:

2 point perspective drawing:

 

DN1009 Graphic Form Project 1 Creative Process Journal

Research

Art Movements:

  1. Dada/Dadaism – Questions the society, role of an artist, and the purpose of art

Hannah Höch (1889-1978)Image result for hannah hoch

  • A German photomontage artist active during the Dada movement.
  • Combined unrelated images to form startling or insightful connections.
  • Challenged the status of women in the social world of her times.

Famous works:

Heads of State (1918-20)
Dada-Rundschau (Dada-Review) (1919)
Cut With the Kitchen Knife Through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany (1919-20)
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)

  • A French painter and sculptor who refused to follow a conventional artistic path
  • “readymades” – turning everyday objects into art
  • Also associated with Cubism, Surrealism and Conceptual Art

Famous Works:

Fountain (1917)
Bicycle Wheel (1913)
L.H.O.O.Q (1919)

Tristan Tzara (1896-1963)
Image result for Tristan Tzara

  • Considered the founder of Dada
  • Organised performances to shock audiences as a way to spread anti-art
  • “cut-ups” – recomposing images and text that were cut, forming an artwork of chance and juxtaposition

Famous Works:

Excerpt from Dada n° 3 (1917)
“Manifestation Dada” in Dada n° 7 Dadaphone (1920) 

2. Russian Constructivism – Abstract, modern and minimal. Geometric, experimental and rarely emotional. Focuses more on the material and form.

Vladimir Tatlin (1885-1953)
Image result for vladimir tatlin

  • Wanted to bend art into one that had practical uses
  • Focused on technology and the machine
  • Likes to include curves in his works.

Famous Works:

Design for the Monument to the Third International (1919-1920)
Image result for vladimir tatlin the sailor (self portrait)
The Sailor (Self-Portrait) (1911)
Image result for vladimir tatlin the nude 1913
Nude (1913)

El Lissitzky (1890-1941)
Image result for el lissitzky

  • Made works with strong political statements
  • Used basic colours and shapes
  • Influenced the De Stijl and Bauhaus movements

Famous Works:

Image result for el lissitzky works
Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919)
Image result for el lissitzky proun
Proun 19D (1920 or 1921)
Image result for Proun 99
Proun 99 (1925)

References:
https://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm
https://www.theartstory.org/artist-hoch-hannah.htm
https://www.theartstory.org/artist-duchamp-marcel.htm
https://www.widewalls.ch/dada-collage-readymade/
https://www.theartstory.org/artist-tzara-tristan.htm
https://www.dadart.com/dadaism/dada/037-Tzara.html

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/constructivism/
https://www.theartstory.org/movement-constructivism.htm
https://www.theartstory.org/artist-tatlin-vladimir.htm
https://www.theartstory.org/artist-lissitzky-el.htm

Images:
https://www.stmuhistorymedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Hannah-Hoch-Self-portrait-in-Mirrors-1931-Image-via-artblastcom-770×466.jpg
https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/http%3A%2F%2Fcom.ft.imagepublish.prod.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4a57d4e4-81de-11e3-87d5-00144feab7de?source=next&fit=scale-down&width=700
https://www.berlinischegalerie.de/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_hoechst_f24c48aa5e.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Hoch-Cut_With_the_Kitchen_Knife.jpg
https://d3i6li5p17fo2k.cloudfront.net/en/rimage/pivot_half_1152/image/4414/f6a3171449b93d7524d3a110a43c031a
https://d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.net/?resize_to=width&src=https%3A%2F%2Fartsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fi-8Le397-h2ZTgLM1iMegw%252FMarcel_Duchamp.jpg&width=1200&quality=80
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/74/Marcel_Duchamp%2C_1919%2C_L.H.O.O.Q.jpg/620px-Marcel_Duchamp%2C_1919%2C_L.H.O.O.Q.jpg
https://cdn.mdr.de/kultur/tristan-tzara-102-resimage_v-variantBig24x9_w-1024.jpg?version=13828
https://www.theartstory.org/images20/works/tzara_tristan_2.jpg?1
https://www.dadart.com/dada-media/Dada-no-7.jpg

https://bestarts.org/ba/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Vladimir-Tatlin-top.jpg
https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/inventingabstraction/?work=226
https://uploads7.wikiart.org/images/vladimir-tatlin/the-sailor-self-portrait-1912.jpg!Large.jpg
https://uploads6.wikiart.org/images/vladimir-tatlin/model-1913.jpg!Large.jpg
https://bestarts.org/ba/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/El-Lissitzky-top.jpg
https://www.theartstory.org/images20/works/lissitzky_el_2.jpg?2
http://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjE1MTA3NSJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDIwMDB4MjAwMFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=3e9f0871a4490ad4
http://deliver.odai.yale.edu/content/id/cd31e5b7-c029-41ef-adb5-1c4f7ca50666/format/2

Process

When I first started thinking of ideas/jobs for this project, my four jobs were quite normal and all circus themed (juggler, bubble artist, clown and popcorn seller). I was told to make the jobs more interesting by adding random words/elements to it so it became: egg juggler, bubble artist in a cactus farm and funeral clown (I hadn’t thought of the 4th one yet). I first tried making the elements and objects of each job look like the letters and sketched them out on paper.

Egg juggler: egg, juggling
Bubble artist in a cactus farm: bubble wand, bubble, cactus
Clown: colourful/red afro, red nose, balloons
Popcorn seller: uniform, red and white stripes, popcorn
Juggler: balls, juggling
Bubble artist: bubble, bubble wand
Clown: balloons
Juggler: Juggling

I was told that that wasn’t what I was supposed to do and I should incorporate the elements into the letter itself with bending them. I thought the bubble artist in a cactus farm would be the easiest so I tried it out first.

1 Bubble artist in a cactus farm -> Bubble in a cactus farm
Elements: Bubble + green, spikes

Using the elements of a bubble and cactus, I came up with 2 designs using the font called rns baruta as the font is fat and round, which is similar to that of a bubble. I realised that I couldn’t show the bubble artist part so I ended up changing the job to a bubble in a cactus farm.

I didn’t know which design was better so I tried both again digitally to compare (just the letter ‘o’). I followed a tutorial on pinterest to draw the bubble.
Soap Bubbles Steps by rimuu

I liked the look of the bubble on the left more but it looks more like a cactus in a bubble farm instead. I was also told that the one on the right looks more interesting so I decided to go with that design.

To do the final design, I first brought the image of the font to illustrator to image trace it. Then I opened the vector in krita and drew the green bubbles within the font area by selecting it. I added the spikes after I was done with all the bubbles.

As cacti are usually found in the desert, I decided to use a picture of the desert for the background. I also tried to vary the positions of the letters as bubbles don’t usually stay in a straight line. After looking at pictures of cacti, I realised that the spikes weren’t dark green so I changed them to a lighter colour that is similar to those of the actual cactus spikes.
Related image

2 Funeral Clown
Elements: Casket/coffin + colourful afro & polka dots

For the design of the funeral clown, I used the fat face font as it looks more formal and rigid, which is a font suitable for funerals.

I didn’t really like the colours in my sketch so I did it digitally and experimented with the colours. I referenced the colours of an actual coffin for my design. I also made the borders of the letters slightly darker to give the coffin a bit of depth.
 
I felt like the one with red polka dots looks quite plain and the polka dots don’t seem to pop out like the colourful ones so I ended up picking the colourful ones instead. For the background, I wanted to use a white cloth/curtain to make it look like a wake but I couldn’t find a good picture of it and I also couldn’t draw it so I ended up using a photo of candles which could also represent the solemn occasion.

3 Bankrupt Gambler
Elements: Poker cards + torn money(?)

Since this was supposed to be a gambler, I decided to use a poker card character font for it. I started off with adding different gambling elements to my design and using empty pockets to represent bankruptcy but it didn’t seem to express bankrupt gambler well and it was also very messy.
  

I was told to choose only one element to represent gambler so I decided on the poker cards. I drew the outline of each poker card and pasted images of poker cards on the outlines one by one and trimmed away the parts that were overlapping. I added stitches to the money attached to the poker cards to represent money being torn and also like the patched up clothes of poor/homeless people. I added a reddish/pinkish background as I felt that it represents someone in the red (bankruptcy).

In the end, I felt that the bankruptcy part wasn’t very obvious, so I included a broken piggy bank in the background.

4 Misfortune Cookie
Elements: Skull + Slip of paper, cookie

For this design, I used a font called djb hunky chunky. It is fat and has a slightly irregular shape so I felt like it looks like a cookie. I wanted to use another font at first so the font used for the sketch is different. I wanted to write bad fortunes on the slips of paper but I was told it would be better to use symbols.

I referenced a illustration of a fortune cookie for my design. I used the colours of the fortune cookie for my drawing and tried to make it look hollow. Then, I added the textures, cracks and the slip of paper for each of the letter. I also added skulls on the papers to represent the misfortune.


Fortune cookies usually come in packets but I wanted to show them placed on a plate, in a random order. The picture I chose was of a broken plate as I thought the broken plate is also a sign of misfortune.

Fonts + Images:
https://fonts2u.com/rns-baruta-black.font?ptext=HOW&size=4https://www.deviantart.com/rimuu/art/Soap-Bubbles-Steps-674625970
https://images.pexels.com/photos/1054016/pexels-photo-1054016.jpeg?cs=srgb&dl=botanical-cacti-cactus-1054016.jpg&fm=jpg
https://images.pexels.com/photos/90407/pexels-photo-90407.jpeg?cs=srgb&dl=africa-camels-desert-90407.jpg&fm=jpg

https://www.fonts.com/font/typetogether/abril-fatface/fatface-regular
http://www.fanagans.ie/download/1/Coffins%202017%20Resized/Elm%20.JPG
https://png2.kisspng.com/sh/c794b96cb0bb42b40ca63c47d32db42e/L0KzQYm3U8MxN6JBiZH0aYP2gLBuTfl1NZZ7gd42Y3zyh7A0kPhwfJDsitN5aImwcbf5j702aZNqfKIAMnXmRIHtWL41PWI2TKo5OEG4QoO7VcQ3OWEATqkCLoDxd1==/kisspng-it-evil-clown-photography-afro-5abed052ec40f8.4511480815224546109677.png

https://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/Card_Characters.fonthttp://pngimg.com/uploads/money/money_PNG3529.png
http://pngimg.com/uploads/scar/scar_PNG15769.pnghttps://www.publicdomainpictures.net/download-picture.php?id=188256&check=c976544b7a2d76d851f9ac7547685c4a
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/English_pattern_king_of_hearts.svg/2000px-English_pattern_king_of_hearts.svg.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Ace_of_spades.svg/2000px-Ace_of_spades.svg.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/English_pattern_jack_of_diamonds.svg/2000px-English_pattern_jack_of_diamonds.svg.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/English_pattern_queen_of_clubs.svg/2000px-English_pattern_queen_of_clubs.svg.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Ace_of_hearts.svg/2000px-Ace_of_hearts.svg.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/English_pattern_king_of_spades.svg/2000px-English_pattern_king_of_spades.svg.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Ace_of_diamonds.svg/2000px-Ace_of_diamonds.svg.png

https://www.dafont.com/djb-hunky-chunk.font?text=HOW&psize=l
https://www.astrology.com/images-US/games/game-fortune-cookie-1.png
https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1164088
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Skull_and_crossbones.svg/1066px-Skull_and_crossbones.svg.png

Final Outcome

Reflections

This project was very challenging for me as I have not attempted digital painting before and I don’t really know how to use photoshop and illustrator. I ended up spending more time on the drawing than I expected. For the colours of the design, I chose them based on the reference images without thinking too much about the colour palette. I could have spent a bit more time on it to make the design better.

Problems with each design:
– bubble in a cactus farm: The bubbles didn’t really look that round after adding the spikes, I could have added the spikes to follow the form more closely instead of putting it in random spots and directions.

– funeral clown: It still ended up looking quite flat even though I tried adding a darker border to show depth, it might have worked better if I tried using a 3D font for my design instead.

– bankrupt gambler: I think I chose the wrong font as the font is too thin so I couldn’t add much to it and it is also quite hard to see the details. I could have also tried to make the tear more obvious. Without the background, it might be quite difficult for people to figure out the job.

– misfortune cookie: I realised that the fortune cookies appear to be floating and not on the plate as I didn’t add shadows. The slips of paper also look flat due to the lack of shadows. Also, I could have taken a photo of actual fortune cookie crumbs on a plate for the background.

Although there were many problems with my designs, I learnt a lot about digital art while doing this project. I think it was quite challenging, having to incorporate the elements of the jobs into the letters instead of just bending the objects/elements into the letters. It forced me to focus on the details of the jobs and think about how to communicate it to the viewers.

DN1011 Form & Visualisation Assignment 2A: Object & Weave Technique Studies

Task 1 – Object Studies

For this task, we had to bring a personal item that is held, worn or carried to be studied.

I ended up bringing a wireless mouse.

We had to draw the top, front and side view of the object so I did a sketch before drawing on the graph paper. I also added the measurements on the sketches.

The drawing I did in pencil wasn’t very clear so I went over it with a pen.

Then, we had to draw the 2 point perspective of the object. I also did some sketches of it (shown above) before I did the actual drawing. Once again, I went over the drawing with a pen.

 

Task 2 – Weave Technique Studies 

For task 2, we had to weave a 2D and a 3D pattern as a pair work. Chien Ping and I decided to work on the 2D component together. We didn’t have any tape or water so it was really hard to weave the pattern we chose — hexagonal pattern. We tried the method from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psHmWNielcw but there was too much tension between the rattan strips so we experimented with different methods and ended up just weaving by looking at the picture of a hexagonal pattern.

I decided to try the pattern again at home using tape and the method from the video. I also did it using 5mm cardboard strips. It works better with cardboard as it is thinner and there’s less tension.

For the 3D component, we decided to split it into half, each of us doing 20x20x10 then combine them together. Chien Ping suggested making it look like a pig since it’s Chinese New Year, so I did the top while he did the bottom of the pig.

Before I started making the actual structure, I experimented with a few patterns.

I think the hexagonal pattern looks better but it would be difficult to replicate it with the rattan strips so I used the mat pattern instead. I liked how the sepak takraw ball turned out but I couldn’t put in in my 3D structure.

In order to make it look like a pig, I also added the ears and nose. I tried different materials and sizes on the chrysanthemum bottom pattern for the nose. I also made sure the structure could stand.

 

Afterwards, we just combined our parts together. For the details of the bottom of the structure, please refer to Chien Ping’s post.

   

 

 

DN1011 Form & Visualisation Assignment 1: Axonometric Drawings

For this assignment, we had to build a structure using at least 15 lego blocks and make an instuction manual for it. I started off with building a kart but I thought the form wasn’t really interesting.

After playing with the blocks, I ended up making a structure that looks like a well.

Afterwards, I drew the individual parts of the structure in the isometric view on the isometric graph paper. I had a difficult time figuring out the angles of the blocks since my structure was unusual.

I put the scan through image trace in illustrator to get a vector of my drawing and made some edits in photoshop. (I added the isometric paper add the back as the lines were lost during the image trace.)

I then realise that the angles of some of the blocks were wrong so I had to redraw them.

After that, I put all the blocks together and coloured them.
(Colours referenced from https://brickset.com/colours/chart)

Finally, I made some adjustments and added some stuff to make it look like a lego instruction manual.

Images:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRoAr2QGH0FDMudE3E1QCjxuS7iHMIsg-JJbMGqR8tNmfy2q2WZmA
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/LEGO_logo.svg/1024px-LEGO_logo.svg.png

DN1010 Experimental Interaction Project 1: The Journey

18 January 9012

 

It had been a few years since my last adventure. Ever since that near-death experience from the visit to planet DN-1004, I never thought I would have the chance to go on another journey. But here I was, on planet DN-1010, ready to get knocked over again.

 

Unlike planet DN-1004, planet DN-1010 seemed to be really dark and quiet. There were no signs of life and the only light source was a round, red platform on the ground. As I walked towards the bright platform, I realised it was a gigantic button with the words ‘Your Story Begins Here’. Since I was already there and had nothing to lose, I got onto the platform without hesitation. Immediately, the ground started rumbling and the platform sank all of a sudden, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the ground. That was also when the area around me started lighting up, allowing me to see two paths in front of me. Before I could get up and walk towards one of the path, I heard a voice.

 

“Good day fellow adventurer, welcome to the planet of fun and games. You are about to embark on a journey that will change your life. You might end up getting something good out of this or get stuck here forever. Every choice you make will make a difference. Remember to watch out for the traps around you as well, I don’t really need another casualty on this planet. Well then, good luck and have fun!”

 

There’s no turning back anymore and all I could do was to choose one of the paths before me.

DN1004 Foundation 4D: Final Assignment

I had a hard time thinking of good ideas when we were given this project but I had a lot of rejected ideas:

  • Bungee jumping off the roof to represent the act of committing suicide (ridiculous and dangerous)
  • Making items that allow us the experience the disabilities of the elderly (too similar to an exhibition i’ve been to)
  • Record people saying an insult that they’ve heard from others before and play all of this in a dark room (doesn’t really convey the meaning well)
  • Make everyone tie a noose together (doesn’t really convey the meaning well)
  • Tying a noose blindfolded (doesn’t really convey the meaning well)

In the end, I wanted to address the issue of people being too dependent on phones. Nowadays, people are always stuck to their phones, even when they are with friends or family. Because of phones, we start to have a lack of face to face interaction.

My original idea for this is to make everyone put down their phones for the whole lesson so that everyone would focus on each presentation/project but I know people would want to document the different works. I decided to just make everyone put down their phones for 5 mins and do an activity together. Some of the activities I thought of were:

  • Broken telephone (Drawing)
  • Creating an artwork together
  • Charades

I realised that charades was the only game/activity that requires people to face each other and interact so I decided to do that.

I made everyone put down their phones on the table and made them play charades. They were split into two teams and could decide how many people would act and how many would guess. They had 2 minutes to act and guess 15 words (objects, emotions, art history)

Recording of a part of the activity (Video credits: Harry)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lVFEEVLM8mX9b1hfr_JggnVNtCGhfikd/view?usp=sharing

They definitely had face to face interaction and I believe this also showed that we can have fun even without our phones (but I had to use my phone for documentation and timing because my stopwatch wasn’t working)

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 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.