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Final video submission.

Movie

In my movie, I want to show a user interacting positively with my model, before turning it on and being frightened away.

I will also find a soundtrack to better convey my ideas and themes.

For my composition, I aimed to achieve an abstract piece, combining my drawing for this project with a photo of my model, which I had applied the same blur effect to.

In this digital drawing I wanted to show the texture of my model, as well as the movement/sound it produces.

To create this, I first drew some stitches, and used the find edges and threshold tools on my own drawing to create this grungy style.

I then added colours corresponding to the ones in my model, and added motion blur to represent the soundwaves and also the vibrations of my models ‘ scared’ emotional quality.

Model qualities

Stationary - comfort/calm Activated - shaking/fearful

Challenges during this project

The main challenge I faced while making this model was the wool weighing down on the motor and preventing the wheel from spinning. I was unable to fully remedy this issue, however I made sure to keep the wool top removable/adjustable. If during presentation or marking, all it will take is for the wool to be moved around a little bit and the motor will spin again. After multiple attempts at different ways to fix this problem, I chose this way, in order to avoid using a 4th material in my model, or to ruin the overall functionality even more.

The assembled model. My model encounters regular problems as the wool seems to weigh down the tiny motor. However, when positioned correctly, this is how it should function.

For my opposing quality of shock, I wanted my wooden piece to produce a vibration, as well as potentially move the wool up and down. The latter was rather tricky, as, although it has worked in my test run, once the wool was connected well to the base, this action would cease. As the extension of my rod had made the model less functional, the wool would weigh down the printed wheel, stopping any motion. I decided to alter the layout of my pieces inside, removing the rod extension and placing my wheel directly onto the motor. This fixed the problem.

#made with tumblr #gif

For my first attempt at a mechanism, I embedded my parts into some clay, adding a small 3D printed disk to the rod. The rod was not positioned in the centre of this disk, instead, more towards the edge. This would create a piece that would enable an up and down motion. The motor spun quite fast at this stage, however, I quickly realised that adding the wool over the top would be rather difficult.

#made with tumblr #gif

For project 3, I wanted to create a model showing the opposing emotional qualities of comfort/familiarity and shock/surprise. To do this, I would use materials that communicated a certain emotion, the movement they produce creating a contrasting one. The materials I chose were white clay for my cast, and wool-acrylic yarn for my crafted part. I would also create smaller additional pieces using 3D printing. As I had some spare PLA wooden filament left over from DSDN, I decided to use that. I also felt that the wooden filament is easier to manipulate/change - sanding/cutting much easier that regular ABS plastic filament. I began by forming a bowl-like base, taking some watered down white clay and placing it into a big bowl, and placing a smaller bowl inside it. This created a sturdy and weighted base for my model. The clay also seems to add to its relaxed appearance, helping to convey "comfort" quite effectively. The most crucial part to conveying this emotional quality, however, was using wool. As we often seek comfort and warmth from woollen blankets, clothing and scarves, I thought it would be interesting to crochet some wool into a suitable shape to fit The bowl, and which the user would want to touch. Finally I extended the pivot of the motor using a small length of wire and a single clamp from a chocolate box. Next I used more clay to embed the motor.

Experiment 10 - wool wraps around and stops the motor

Experiment 10 - holding the wool up high - model breaks at the end.

In this experiment I wanted to create a model that would get tangled up and require some input from the user to untangle it. To do this, I made a simple setup with chopsticks and wool. One of these videos shows me holding the wool high up to test what it does - but the other shows the model spinning wool around itself and stopping the Motor, requiring the user to pull on the wool to untangle it

Weekly Experiment

In this weeks experiment, I quickly explored how a simple circuit, consisting of a power source and a small motor would be able to be used to affect materials in a unique way. I instantly knew that the motor would create an effect similar to a drill or dremel - it being the same idea of a small rotating metal part. Therefore, I decided both times, to secure my material (or another material) onto the motor and affect it in some other way. The materials I chose were a polystyrene dome that had been painted green some time ago, and a piece of polymer clay that contained glitter and foil pieces (premade). In my first mini experiment, I pushed the polystyrene dome onto my motor, and as it began to spin, I held it up against some sandpaper on the table. I was able to control this very easily and created a rough, worn quality on the surface of the polystyrene. This method also removed majority of the green colouring on the dome. My next experiment was using the clay. With the motor clean, and with nothing attached, I used it to create a texture on the surface, moving the tip around a lot to gain different textures. This resulted in an almost sea creature looking material. Due to my lack of experience in photography, I was unable to capture the motion I had used in this experiment, but I hope this can be seen in the photos of my models themselves.

ato-cosy-home

Project 2 was an interesting exploration into the properties of materials and what unique or unusual characteristics they can offer the designer.

For my final experiment, I took my findings from my weekly experiments to create an interesting outcome.

In my first experiment, I created a crochet ball, which I then molded using a 2-part molding compound. My first attempt was not successful as the yarn embedded its small fibers into the mold, making it almost impossible to remove. Instead of using yarn, I found a similar alternative - cooking string. This material is free of small fibers jutting out in every direction to avoid them getting into food. This also allowed me to easily make a mold of my ball. To make sure there were no fibers, I decided to quickly coat the full ball in a thin layer of clear nail varnish to make it more smooth.

The mold was quite interesting to look at, the stitches from my crochet forming little bubble/spot-like dimples in the compound. I then cast a clear, yellow resin into the mold. The final cast appeared very organic in its form and appearance. I used hot glue to create a lattice-like formation in my mold, to create a twin which was more ‘sparce’ and ‘empty’ than the original. Whilst the glue was still hot, I bent the structure with my fingers to alter its shape, flipping it inside-out. I thought that my photo was quite successful, enjoying the aesthetic brought on by shining the light through transparent objects. I decided to carry this forward to my final submission.

I found the resin and molding compound to work very well, however I knew that resin would be quite risky to use, as the conditions required are not necessarily present in my halls of residence. My experiment had cured, but not fully, and had taken almost a week to dry rather than 24 hours. This risk, combined with the price of the materials lead me to try out some more common, cheaper and readily available materials.

Similar to my first experiment, I used yarn, however this time it was regular acrylic yarn. I chose a multi coloured skein to add to aesthetic appeal. In the soldering experiment, I decided to heat up this yarn before pouring solder onto it, to allow it to adhere better to the soft surface. However,I realised that because the yarn was 100% acrylic content, it began to melt under the heat. It did not melt into a liquid form, instead, shriveling and turning brown, almost like an instant noodle texture.

I decided to bring this method forward into my final model…

After comments from tutor and lecturer I decided to experiment with the idea of melting the acrylic into a liquid which I could cast OR to create more of a progressive gradient between the pristine yarn and the sizzled section.

(note the large contrast between the two states).

I wanted to create a parasitic relationship between my yarn and the casting material, making the yarn look as if it is a creature/fungus best suited to ‘living’ inside the cast material, and when out in the open, shrivels and dies.

The casting material was the most difficult decision in this project…

>resin would be perfect to give the material a clear, transparent look, but would be toxic to heat and therefore I would not be able to burn the yarn as I wanted to. >with gelatin, It would have taken too long to set, and for the approach I was going for, I would need a casting material that would set quickly - OR that I would be able to quickly set using a cooling method. >I explored the possibility of glycerin melt and pour soap to cast, however this requires a lot of time to set, and conditions and equipment which I do not have access to. From prior knowledge, melting any kind of soap creates a horrible smell which would not be welcome in the workshop or hall of residence. >I decided to use wax for my final design to ensure a quick setting time (I can quickly set it using cold water/ice). It is cheap to buy and although it dries mostly opaque, I realised that this would create an interesting effect in my model. The yarn would become increasingly less visible as more wax was poured on it, however when a light is shone through, the coloured yarn would be visible within the milky material.

I began by melting a small layer of wax and placing some unaffected yarn into the bottom.

Then, using crumpled tin foil as a mold, I began gradually layering wax into it, with every addition of yarn becoming more and more burnt/melted, with the final, almost black burnt piece settling on top, as if shriveled by the outside conditions.

After I removed the model from the mold, I heated the full thing yet again with a heat gun, and moved parts around to produce a more aesthetically appealing model.

The ‘fungus’ appears as if it is burrowing into the wax and thriving and growing colourful inside.

My final photo utilises my lighting technique from earlier experiments to show the internal structure which is not visible in a regularly lighted environment.

My drawing focuses on the contrast between colourful and scorched materials, as well as being an abstract representation of the yarn becoming progressively more shriveled and messy as it reaches the top of the material.

My chosen composition was an overlay of this onto my original photo to demonstrate these themes further. Overall, I am quite pleased with my project, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I believe I successfully achieved a parasitic relationship between my cast and crafted materials.

(revised drawing)

FINAL EXPERIMENT - Final photo submission.

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