Small Actions Ctn.

pictured below; more form possibilities and resin tests.

Small Actions

I've been testing routing patterns and making little profile shapes and maquettes. Hopefully by the end of this week i'll have settled on final shapes/forms - then it'll be a case of drawing each piece to scale (might need some help with that), buying materials and making them.

Thoughts

I've spent most of today thinking about how i'm going to build/paint/stain/varnish/put together the furniture concept i've settled on. I'm basically intending to challenge perception/increase sensory awareness and engage people in a public environment by building a collection of public furniture. Skewed across the furniture will be a projected 2 dimentional graphic - from a specific position/angle (where the projector is) the viewer will be able to see a geometric 2 dimentional shape in a 3 dimentional space. Difficult to explain, even harder to realize full size.

My plan is to make a 1/4 scale version of the idea using specific materials and techniques. To accompany this mock-up - a full scale version of one of the chairs. Baring in mind we only have 8 or so weeks left, i have lots to do - too much, you could say. Anyway, here are a couple of camera-phone photos from todays going's on.

Decisions Decisions

As we only have around 11 weeks left to complete our honours year projects, i've had to make a few decisions. The interactive public art direction has been put on the back burner for now - i may return to it in the future, but i didn't feel it was relevant enough.

Instead i've taken on the optical illusion angle (2d images in 3d spaces) and plan on applying it to a series of furniture. Though there's still a lot to work out, i'm confident it'll both address the issue of sensory stimulation in a public context and function as both product design and sculpture. Over the next couple of weeks i plan to both decide on final forms, materials and routing patterns - i'll keep the 'ol blog updated with any interesting developments/results.

Teleo

With the help of Jim Hamlyn and Jon Pengelly, i've been looking at ways of using a 'Teleo' in the development of some flash based interactive concepts. The teleo is able to communicate with and control flash animations via analogue and digital inputs (sensors etc). A relay module can also be used as a digital output; below is a short video of me turning a desk lamp on and off with a pressure sensitive mat. Very very simple, but fun!

Op Art Experiment

I spent yesterday afternoon painting my own op art graphic in our studio. I've been looking at perspective and ways of subtly challenging perception. This graphic is more of a test run of something i'm planning on doing full scale somewhere at Grays.

Today

Animated Environments

Here are a few graphic ideas i've been testing over the past few days;