Final Project : (Re) collection of Objects: A Biographical-Toy

 

 

          
           When I was a little girl, I would go to my Grandparent's house while my parent's were at work. They had plenty of games and movies that I would frequently watch. However, I liked to play with the game which was not necessarily a child's game. My Grandfather had a wood labyrinth maze game. I would always play this game, especially with my Aunt. I could sit there for hours playing, trying to get from start to finish successfully. When we were asked to pick a toy from our childhood which we could re-create, I automatically thought of this game. Anyone, any age can play it, but I loved it hen i was a kid. 
          Since I already knew what the game was, there was really no research for me to do. I found a picture online to work off of. The game is rectangular shaped, there for a chose a cereal box to be the base of my project. I cut the top off of the box and made multiple wholes in it. I then used magazine pages that had graphics of wood on it to create the wood effect on the box. I realized that once the ball fell through the whole it had to come back out somehow. I cut two aluminum cans in half and I layered them on top of each other so that the ramp was the same length of the box. However, the ramp is only in the center of the box, so I needed other ramps on either side of the aluminum to lead the ball into the aluminum ramp. I used another cereal box for this part. This was helpful because when a ball falls through a whole on the edge of the box it will not just drop to the bottom, but rather roll into the ramp and out of the whole. Next, I used small pieces of wood to make the bumpers on the top of the labyrinth. I also used the wood to make a holder for the ball when it drops out of the whole. Lastly, I drew a path with marker that the ball should follow.
            I liked this project a lot actually. One reason is because my game is actually functional. I can play it if I wanted to. I liked making something that I used to play as a child. While I made it, it brought back memories from when I was little and and would play with the labyrinth for hours. One of my difficulties while making this was trying to make a ramp for the ball to go down. I tried using all aluminum cans, but they didn't work. I tried using water bottles, but some of the bottles weren't perfectly round so the ball would get stuck. I finally realized that the cereal box was the most flexible to make a ramp that would lead to the aluminum ramp. I liked making the actually maze and adding the wooden bumpers. If I had the chance t do the project over again I would make the same thing because I enjoyed doing it.

Project 3: Polyhedral Structures

          In our third project, we had to create a three-dimensional form using polyhedral units.Before starting the project I researched many different polyhedral forms and masks African, Asian, Native American, and Aztec to name a few..  
          The first phase of the project involved making a mask. I wanted to use many stars to give it a mysterious and mystical feel. I noticed in a lot f the African masks that they had long faces and long noses. I wanted to incorporate this into my mask. I made my nose the largest part of my mask. Violet and yellow are complementary colors which I used in my mask. I used bright colors to add to the mystical idea.
          The second phase of the project involved using polyhedrals to create a wall structure. I use a twisted rectangles of all different lengths. I stacked them on top of one another leaving spaces to see through to the other side. The inside of the rectangles we painted multi color and the outsides were black. I chose to paint them this way because I pictured my wall structure in a space with white walls. I wanted to add subtle color. The cut outs in the rectangles allow for people to see the color from either side of the wall.

Project 2: Serial Planes Studies

Here are some examples of serial planes. Some are found in everyday life, others are pieces artist's have made.

                                          

Here are my sketches for the first phase of the project: the  book

Next I began on the model for phase two: foam board

After making the model I began working on the real project.

          In our second project, we were asked to transform both a book and a piece of white foam board into a serial planes piece. When researching serial planes I came across many interesting things. I was shocked to see how many everyday objects were actually serial planes.

          The first phase of the project involved a book. I choose a paper back book, Outcasts United. My idea for transforming this book was to make a backyard tree house scene. Later, however I changed my ideal to a jungle scene. I started out by making a tree, pulling and ripping apart the pages and twisting them until they stood up straight. I then started making the grass by cutting small strips in the pages and rolling them up. I rolled the strips in different directions in hopes of adding more volume to the piece. After I had made a lot of the "grass" I decided that another tree would help balance out the book. I was very pleased with the finished product of my book. It had a mystical feel to it which I really liked.  The one thing that gave me trouble with the book was finding a way for the trees to stay standing. The grass was not strong enough to hold it up, and although they did stand up, they were easily knocked over.

          The second phase of the project we worked with white foam board. Unlike the book I did not have a clear idea about what I wanted to make. When building my model I cut out several triangles, because they are a very unique shape. Triangle can look very different depending on the angles you cut them at. I began gluing them together and stacking them on top of one another. Some of the triangle I scored and bent, others had cut outs in them. When I began building the real project I based it off my model, and just made larger triangles. I made a lot more triangles that bent and were cut out. No side is alike on this piece. From each angle that you look at, the eyes catches something different. There is a lot of negative space which allows light to pass through. I had a lot of fun making this piece because I was just making it up as I went along. 

Project 1: Out of the box

 I built a lamp out of a Christmas gift box. Here is my process of building it from sketches to the actual making of it.

         

          A Greek Philosopher once said, "no great thing is created suddenly." I could not agree more with this statement. Just as in sports, or anything for that matter, practice makes perfect. The more you work at something the better the outcome will be. Once an idea is thought of, the more time you put into that idea the greater it will become when executed. My understanding of creativity is something of your own, kind of like a fingerprint. Everyone thinks differently. Creativity is anything that your mind can create. Some people are more creative than others and most often pursue careers in the visual and performing arts. I am studying to become an interior designer. I feel that a room in a house or building can really effect someone's mood. When a person goes on vacation the hotel room they stay in is designed to have them feel relaxed and enjoy their time spent there. If the room were designed to look like your bedroom at home you would not feel as if you were on vacation. My creativity when it comes to designing a building or room will grow as I complete school. Creativity and critical thinking are not just present in art, but many other things as well. The way I write my name, arrange my room, and organize my closet are all forms of my creativity. Teachers and friends of mine will all write my name differently, some using cursive others using architectural lettering. In this course however, creativity and critical thinking are being expressed through artwork. 

          In this first project, the class was given the task of transforming a cardboard box into something 3-dimensional. My thought process when deciding what I wanted to make out of my box was based on my environment that I was in, which happened to be my living room. I began thinking of things that I have in my living room and that would be interesting to make. We were asked to conceal the box shape from our projects, and make "anything but a box." A lamp is round and has shapes that are not squares or cubes in it. We were allowed to use hot glue to hold the project together, and were not allowed to add anything to it. I made sure i picked a box that had color in it so that I would my lamp would have some appeal. I had some difficulties with making the lamp and keeping it balanced. The lamp shade was heavier on one side from the glueing of the circles so it kept tilting sideways. This caused the lamp to topple over a few times. I realized that in order to keep it balance i had to have the right amount of circles on each side of the shade. Also, I built in somewhat of a support factor to the top of the inside of the shade so that the middle was just as heavy as the sides were. My box was pretty easy to maneuver with. It was not to thin and not too thick. I as able to cut it very easily and still have it be sturdy. Hot glue worked wonders. I would not have been able to make the lamp with regular glue or tape. One thing I learned from this project was the importance of balance. In this case my lamp was supposed to be straight not crooked. I learned to factor in the weight of every material, including the hot glue. Once it was dry the glue had weight to it making the la shade heavier. My overall impression of the project was that it was fun. It was not extremely hard to make and allowed me to create something fun.