Category Archives: Final Project

Spoon bending documentation + final

For the making of the spoon, I started out with firstly trying out the spoon used in magic tricks.

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and so I had to research into magic tricks and find out how the spoon bending trick works

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A video posted by Angel C. (@revivalblessings) on

 

Then i decided to try to make one that bends with a kind of mechanism.

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I realised that to hide the strings I need to make my own spoon. So I made one out of air dry clay first to learn how it looks like in 3D.

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Then I proceeded to learn how to use a 3D software to print it out to see how it works. I first used google sketch up but then I realised that it had certain limitations so I decided to settle on using TinkerCAD which was a really good software for beginners.

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Then I realised that joints were way too small to get printed and I had to find a way to put the joints inside. So, I made a new 3D model and got it printed on a better 3D printer using resin.

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I then made the joint smaller and improved the entire spoon to become smaller.

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The next biggest problem was concealing the joint. I needed a joint which was flexible and yet easy to conceal.

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So i experimented with a lot of different materials.

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Most of the materials were either too hard to be bent or hard to conceal or caused the spoon to not look like it’s bent.

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The nest solution that I could come up with was to use a piece of leather as a joint cover.  I got the inspiration from the cover for the gear sticks in carsfont-b-car-b-font-auto-black-leather-font-b-gear-b-font-shift-stick

So I then bought chrome nail powder and then coated the whole spoon to at least look a bit more complete

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If I had more time, I would most probably print the joint out in silicon or made the joint in leather and also reconstruct the whole spoon.

For the coding part, the difficulty came when the spoon was way to responsive to the user. The solution was to put the threshold higher and also a delay that holds the spoon in place for 3 seconds before going back into its original position.

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Having a meter there that tells people in real time their brainwave levels was also very helpful in giving users a feedback to let them know that the installation is responsive as the spoon does not immediately move till they reach a certain level of concentration.

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Some of the technical difficulties was that I had to be physically there to ensure that the users know how to wear the mindwave headset. Next, the mobile app would crash quite often so I had to keep restarting it. Then, the calibration with the user’s brainwaves took some time also. Some users also would not even have any reading of their brainwave.

I think the improvements that I would need to make is

  1. make the spoon look more convincing
  2. making the calibration of the mindwave faster and more sensitive
  3. find a way to teach users how to wear the device without a person physically being there to teach them.

 

I also did a video to document some of the process of making the spoon happen.

Transforming into my avatar

In my final project, I sought to exist in the first space and the third space at the same time and interact with both the first and third space at the same time. I also encouraged the participation of both spaces in changing my appearances in real life.

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The work that really inspired me was  Grand Theft avatar.

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I was really amazed by how the third space encouraged creativity and pushing boundaries. At one time, people went a bit crazy and started to request that I wear two wigs instead of one and also to put black lipstick instead of the usual colors. They also felt that it was fun to choose difficult colors for me to try on my eye.

In addition, JenniCam also allowed me to think about what the internet was interested to see, which is why I decided to do make up in public. It was making something private public and also showing people the process and allowing participation.

Doing rehearsals on my own also did help shape a lot of what I wanted to do.

Initially, I wanted to do it in a room in school where the webcam and my phone will be facing me.

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However, I realised that the work had the potential to be better.

“The artist studio has traditionally been a finite space, defined by its physical walls, flat file cabinets, table surfaces, portfolio cases, and print racks.”- Randall Packer (2015). “Collective Narrative“.

The third space could really allow me to push the boundaries of where I could do my performance. In addition, I could also explore how audiences can be included. The shift in power from the artist to the audience did make the work have more layers I felt. It was a constant conversation and reaction between me and the audience.

I did my work in the lounge but did not expect so many other people to join in even though it was a thursday night in school. It was also interesting to note that my audiences felt as if they were watching a show. Many of them were eating and drinking. It was quite interesting to note that they were very comfortable being part of the performance.

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It is interesting that from what I observed, when people only see a small camera and a lap top, they are not so afraid of approaching the artist as they do not see where the footage goes to or could understand the totality of what was going on. Even if they see themselves on YouTube Live. They would only see that the audience is themselves. It sort of become a private public show which is perhaps how our social media has become.

Doing a live performance has also taught me how to do improvisation. Like for example when my phone internet was lagging, I decided to go to the other side of the webcam and it turned out to be one of the glitches that I really loved.

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I don’t think I can ever replicate this but I was glad it happened.

Doing OSS has really helped me document the process and also track the maturity of my thinking. From not really knowing about the origin of the internet and its culture to now doing an art performance over the internet.