Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Project 5: Kinetic Sculpture Brainstorming

Kinetic Sculpture: Concept

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Tuesday, April 28, 2015 8:47:51 PM
Okay; first things first: let's start with the concept. I get to make a hand-cranked sculpture that moves. I mainly want an excuse to make a hula dancer, honestly.
So starting with that, climate change is an ideal cause; small islands like Hawaii are the most vulnerable to climate change and most affected by rising sea levels. (http://www.hanaleiwatershedhui.org/the-science/climate-change-hawaii) In Hawaii, Whale Skate Island has already disappeared, and the northwestern islands are lower-lying and more likely to be inundated with water from rising sea levels over the next century. Some endangered species exist only in those areas. Warming water may also kill the coral reefs that protect Hawaii's beaches and provide their white sand.
Hula dancing is the language of the heart; Queen Ka'ahumanu banned it in 1830 after converting to Christianity, but King David Kalakaua restored hula, surfing, and the martial art of lua during his reign (1874-1891), and was nicknamed the Merrie Monarch for his love of his Hawaiian culture. Hilo's annual hula competition was named The Merrie Monarch Festival in his honor.
I'd like to capture the movement in 1:49-1:53 of this Merrie Monarch video: https://vimeo.com/92900854.
Fashion designer/dancer/sculptor/performance artist Nick Cave seemed like the best artist to reference for style. His sound suits were made to be danced in, and create noise. His raffia suits and  tin toy suits would work well for a hula dancer. Dancers disappear in his soundsuits, though; they lose their own personality, their faces are usually hidden, and they become a different entity. I want to avoid this for my dancer; the hula dancer's facial expressions and peaceful grace look like an important part of the dance.
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Project 4: Tangible Intangibles (Abstract balsa wood sculpture)

Project 4: taking an abstract concept and making it tangible.

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Saturday, April 11, 2015 8:08:47 PM
For our latest project, we were allowed to choose our own word from a list of adjectives. Then we had to sculpt the essence of our word out of a 3"x4"x14" block of wood.
I originally chose "earnest" (as in "The Importance of Being..."), and my design bestfriend chose "elegant." We both switched sketchbooks after a day of drawing ideas, and eventually gave in and stole each other's words. I'm so glad--she handled "earnest" a heck of a lot better than I could've, and I had an amazing time drawing elegant ideas.
My muse for "elegant" is Erte. Born Romain de Tirtoff, Erte designed fabulous, elegant, extravagant art deco fashion magazine covers or costumes and sets for the Folies-Bergere, Harper's Bazaar, and even Mata Hari before she was executed as a German spy.
I'll start backwards and post the final result furst, since I'm excited about how this one turned out.

Elegantissima

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Saturday, April 11, 2015 8:13:47 PM
My sculpture has a hole through its base; I cut feathers in half and slid them into grooves. The base is covered to look like a fur stole/muff, so I staged a PETA attack and threw red paint on it.

Elegant Inspirations: Erte

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Saturday, April 11, 2015 10:42:05 PM
Elegant: Regal, Glamorous, Luxurious, Stylish, Sumptuous, Ornamented.
*Note: If you have time to view only one image, it's worth checking out "InspirationSumptuousErteHimselfFancyPants." It's a pretty spectacular silver pantsuit Erte designed and wore to a party.


Brainstorming for Balsa Wood

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Sunday, April 12, 2015 9:45:06 PM
We drew 30 rough sketches for our word. Kimberly Gray and I traded sketchbooks and drew a few for each other, so a few of these are hers (and a few of hers are mine), just for fun. The longer I drew, the weirder the sketches got. More Dr. Seuss-meets-underwater-creatures than elegant sometimes.
As a future art director, I'll be drawing up sketches and letting an advertising team, a superior, or the client choose the best idea. So I asked Eben Hall to weigh in on the best one to execute. He chose a curvy one that looked a little like a trophy, and more like an octopus tentacle than I intended.
Lucky for me, it was the thumbnail I already wanted to execute.


Clay and wax models

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Sunday, April 12, 2015 10:17:26 PM
The wax version of my curvy tentacle-trophy looked oddly like a sea slug with fleshy lobes. I simplified the curves for the final wood project to make it less goofy and more elegant.
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Meet Bruce

Prototypes and assembling the final shark

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Sunday, March 15, 2015 2:39:48 AM
My TA liked the shark puppet the most, so I had fun making a prototype out of some soft muslin.
Here are all the pieces of the pattern I worked out, and the pieces of the final shark; the prototype felt a little short, so I lengthened the pattern for the final.
In the end, I decided to make an ordinary shark, not a lawyer, and I put a special surprise in the shark's mouth: a chip that can record and play back 12 seconds of sound. I asked one of the students in my dorm to record a goofy Jaws theme on it to start the new owner out, and painted a little triangle "play" and a circle "record" symbol over the buttons.

Bruce will eat you up.

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Sunday, March 15, 2015 2:54:31 AM

Meet Bruce.

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Sunday, March 15, 2015 2:52:33 AM
Meet Bruce. Press the play button under the black triangle in his mouth to make him talk, or hold down the black dot on the other side of his mouth to put words in it.
Five things I'm proud of, and five things I'd like to improve:
1. I'm thrilled with the voice recorder, and loved listening to classmates record different goofy things for the shark to say.
2. I'm proud of using seams that looked like shark gills to create the shape of the head.
3. The little side fins give Bruce a T-Rex feel: awkward and adorable.
4. The colors worked together nicely, and stiff gray linen was perfect for sharkskin.
5. A puppet really invited user interaction, and sharks lured people into playing.
Things I'd like to improve in the next shark:
1. Mark the record and play buttons better by putting stickers on them for the buyer to remove. They may have trouble figuring it out with just a note. (I can fix this Monday.)
2. Since the final fabric was stiffer than muslin, the gill pleats made his head lumpy. Make thinner pleats or taper them more at the top.
3. Joining the inside hand pocket to the outside sharkskin created some folds at the base of the shark. These don't look intentional.
4. Lumpy stuffing and loosely woven fabric make him look lumpy; consider lining him with muslin.
5. Paint the teeth and mouth after sewing canvas mouth pieces together. Acrylic does make the fabric nice and stiff, but it's very difficult to sew through.
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Project 3: Upcycling (I'll spare you my research photos)

Project 3 Research: upcycling.

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Sunday, March 15, 2015 1:26:40 AM
For my latest project, I bought three damaged items from Denton Thrift to turn into something great they could sell.
I looked for things with holes and stains, so I didn't destroy anything useful, and found stiff gray linen pants, a houndstooth jacket, and a stained blue canvas bag with great hardware.
I briefly considered a safari bag until I learned that very different clothes are okay to make from clothing. But the muppets are pretty amazing, and I love Stewart Brown's studies on how play affects kids and adults, so I researched puppets the most.

My starting materials...

Posted by   Lisa Brunet  at Sunday, March 15, 2015 2:04:54 AM
I thought about making spats; the purse has great hardware for it, and they really need to make a fashion comeback. Capes do, too.
But I also grew up listening to Count Von Count's Continuous Country Cookin' Downhome Diner, and the gray was perfect for a shark puppet. I love my "objection!" button in a weird text-based MMORPGame I'm addicted to; it's a reference to Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney, so I thought about turning the vampire or shark puppet into a lawyer.

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