Push/Pull Part 2: Elise and Min
Narration: You enter the library expecting a long day of studying and boring work ahead of you. As you exit the elevator, you’re met with the glorious voluptuousness of a four-legged beast and yet, you are met with a flurry of mixed emotions: from an impulse to hug the plump and domesticated-looking beast, to a strangely sexual energy emanating from its… essence. All you know for sure is one thing: it’s got a lot of heart.
Min’s Project: Wooden Heart
The most obvious elements that we took from this piece were the heart shaped exterior as well as the heart-shaped interior. It’s what forms the base for the cute Frankenstein’s monster that we wanted to create.
Elise’s Project: Three-Legged Monster
The elements of this project that give this plushy its character are its three furry legs, as well as the bow on top. While the three legs gave the ball its title of Monster, the bow on top gave it a cute, domesticated feeling that was irreplaceable in its inclusion to its uniqueness.
Process
The most difficult part of the process came from the beginning with the math involved in accurately cutting out pieces that would fit together, much like Frankenstein’s monster. When calculating each meticulous measurement, including the perimeter of a heart, it was a challenge on such a large scale, especially because there is no set formula for calculating that. However, we gave it the best shot that we could and, luckily with Elise’s superior sewing skills, attaching the hearts was not too difficult. The real challenge came when it was time to attach the legs to the bottom of the heart. We had to go through the process of inflating the heart beforehand to know at what angle we would have to cut the legs (which also required some improvisational math) so that they could support the lovely beast. Unfortunately, once we did attach the legs, they were unable to support the upper body.
We placed the air feeding tube between the legs, but because we could no longer stand the Heart on its legs, we had to resort to changing the placement of the tube to the top of the Heart and changing its orientation to upside down. This actually worked in our favor, because at this point, when we were inflating and deflating Her Majesty, the legs flailed and straightened out in a very animated way, giving it the feel of a baby animal who was learning to walk. The inner red tube that creates the inner heart was a tad bit too long, making the inflated She-Beast’s inner heart closely resemble a sexual body part on both sides. To sort of fix this, Elise sewed a part of the tube to the inside of the white nylon to give it a more distinct heart shape on one side. The final touch in our installment was adding the bow, which was a small task compared to the rest of the sewing process.
Reflection
As we first tackled the assignment, we weren’t exactly sure how it would turn out. We were especially unsure in Lord Heartquad’s ability to stand on her own. However, we accidentally stumbled onto something beautiful when we found that the top of the heart acted as an amazing base for her legs to stand upwards and utilize their animated movements when inflating and deflating. It was especially interesting to find that everyone found that she also emanated a sexual presence, precisely due to the accidentally elongated inner red heart. If we were to change anything, it would be the placement of the cut umbilical cord-like hole that we placed for people to peek through. Although it was a source for interaction, its location between two of her legs took away from the four main legs. However, while the entire process did not go according to plan, what resulted from our tiny mistakes created a stunningly unique Frankstein’s monstress.