Spring 2022
We made several smaller mockups of the Venus flytrap head. We came up with a pattern with baffling that we are satisfied with, and we plan to scale up the mock-up into our final size. We plan to dye the fabric after we cut out the patterns and before assembling, and by next Monday we plan to finish the head of the flytrap.
We started planning out the space and scrapped the cage idea.
We started to put together what our elements look like and split up some of the work. We talked about what we wanted some of the elements to look like (more 2d or 3d appearances). We also figured out dimensions for some of the individual objects. Currently, some of the patterns for the dinosaur, butterfly, and mushroom have been cut out.
Additionally, we started deciding some of the colors that we are going to dye the individual elements.
We have finished our Rhino file and will begin cutting out the ripstop this afternoon. We plan to have all the cutouts done today and distribute sewing work.
After getting some help over the weekend from Sean, we have finished our rhino file for our ribcage design.
Over the course of the next few days we will start cutting and sewing the design – we are hoping to have at least one arch of the ribs done by Wednesday.
For Monday, we determined how we would pattern and construct our project in order to model it and slice it in Rhino. We also finished our full model in Rhino and have finished squishing/unrolling almost all of our pieces.
We also finished the timeline and major/minor goals outline for our project, as included below:
In class Monday, we decided that we will try acid dye for the iris of our eye, since we were really taken with the patterns we could create by gathering/scrunching the fabric.
For today, we have finished our rough outline. We hope to make a small model soon to work out the stability of our project, we have not decided what we will make it out of, but we want to figure out what shapes we will need to create to make our piece.
For us specifically, our outline is very much a suggestion, as Asad and Georgia are part of SCC and have a busy week this week. But any slack we have in our plan we will pick up afterward. Our main goal is to have what we need to get done, done before the dates when we can go to WQEB and test our inflatable in the space there.
We have figured out the sizes that we want the inflatable to be, including the sizing and space between the ribs. We have also decided to use all white rib stock because we want to see the effect of color from the inside will travel through the white pieces and give a dream-like look both inside and out.
For 4/4, we have finished working on our timeline and we want to begin planning how to cut out the ripstop for our inflatable. We will also be asking Olivia for mylar that we will need for sewing later on.
We began this project by deciding on the inflatable we want to develop further. Like the others, we had a total of eight options to choose from. The eight options included seven hand-drawn inflatables and one rhino-based inflatable. After reviewing the structure and process of the eight inflatables, we figured that landing on the rhino-based inflatable would help a lot with precision when trying to create an enormous inflatable that none of us had made before. Although the primary reason for choosing the rhino inflatable was for precision, the shape of the inflatable was very interesting.
The couch was made out of four ellipsoids connected to one another. Each ellipsoid consisted of four symmetric fragments. Furthermore, what had made the symmetric pattern stand out was the bold binary color patchwork. The color patchwork required a lot more work than just assigning random colors to segments. We had to fully understand the structure in order to figure out how the colors intersect with one another.
Before cutting out the pattern, we had to decide the color scheme of the inflatable. The options were rather limiting with a simplistic palette of white,
Before cutting out the pattern, we had to decide the color scheme of the inflatable. The options were rather limited, with a simplistic palette of white, yellow, red, dyed green, and black. We tried out several mix match color choices; however, we landed on the black and white checkerboard match. It would give a special boldness to the inflatable.
We had initially planned to use the projector. However, considering the simple segment shapes of the pattern, we decided to do a precise drawing of the pattern by using our own skills of measuring and enlarging the original pattern. It took a while but was successful.
After we sewed together the four main ellipsoids of our inflatable, we sparked with a new idea of morphing Jules’ couch into a different form that could also After we sewed together the four main ellipsoids of our inflatable, we sparked with a new idea of morphing Jules’ couch into a different form that could also implement Heejin’s cherry motif in her previous assignment. The four-component of the couch could be easily rearranged to resemble a cherry. From that point, we planned out how to successfully make the change. We created two tubes that would connect the two large ellipsoids(the cherry) and the two small ellipsoids(the leaf).
When we first inflated our final piece, we were surprised by the scale and the effect it had in transforming the feeling of the entire space where it was installed. At the same time, we were surprised by how difficult it was to install the inflatable the way we wanted. We had to hand the leaf part to the ceiling. However, due to its large size and limiting options to hand onto, it was very difficult to install the inflatable in just the right place, facing just the right angle. Eventually, we figured out the best spot and presented it to the class.
The critique was helpful to reflect on our project and learn how things can improve in the future. We were very happy to see how people were interested in the form and color choice of our inflatable. Some people interacted with the inflatable by touching the floppy leaves. Furthermore, it was interesting to know how people interpret the cherry structure. Some understood it as an undefined structure, some had their own interpretations (music note), and some viewed it as a cherry. Although we were satisfied with the varied responses since we also enjoyed the mysteriousness of our structure while making it, we also learned that there have to be more defining qualities of a certain object if we intend to create the object. For instance, if we want the audience to view our structure as a cherry at first glance, we might use a different color scheme of red and green instead of black and white.
Our object is a cow with decorations. It initially was a teddy bear shape as planned. However, we decided if we were trying to create a childhood-like vibe, we might want something that looks more childish. Then Yiyang drew an abstract and child-like picture which combines Jiyeon’s pear shape with animal shape.
Much of our inflatable, from the sketch, to the cutting of the pieces, to the assembly, was improvised. We intentionally allowed our process to be very organic, responsive, and “un-planned” as we wanted the inflatable to feel as if it were a child’s drawing come to life. Our piece evokes feelings of childlike joy, wonderment, silliness, but also perhaps a bittersweet nostalgia over the way things once were. We wanted to juxtapose this childlike structure in the context of a college library, where students are often stressfully working toward their futures and crossing the threshold between childhood and adulthood.
We free-drew pieces for this object with a rhino file as reference. This step added some unexpected and child-like carelessness into the object. We did not encounter too much difficulty when combining pieces together since we kept it simple. However, when decorating the whole object, we realized that it was nearly impossible to sew decoration pieces onto its surface after we close it. We asked Olivia for help and then glued pieces onto the surface. We then trimmed some outlines to mimic the feeling that they grew from the cow.
If we were to do something different, maybe we would try to sew some pieces before we actually close the shape. And we would also try to figure out how to have the cow standing by itself instead of leaning on sandbags. Because initially we wanted to hang the object and did not think too much about organizing its feet to have it standing.
One good lesson we learned from this project is that having basic or primary form ready earlier. We finished most parts of our object during the spring break and thus we had much more time to develop it further. It was helpful to rehearsal it again and again and build more onto it.
We will be using a Google Drive Folder to keep track of all of our notes and work.
Our current idea revolves around creating a tunnel of sorts that the user can walk through towards the wall of mirrors. At first, we wanted to create a tunnel that led into a larger room that people could walk through and then be surprised with the larger room when they can see more and the mirrors. As we thought about the exact details and possible construction of the inflatable, we noticed that our inflatable idea was similar to a human ribcage and began to explore what that would look like instead of a tunnel/room object. We hope to use animation to create a hallucinogenic experience that makes the viewer feel as if they are walking through the body itself and into a person’s rib cage.
For this project, we will likely only use black and white nylon. The rough dimensions we measured while we were in the space were 14’ x 8’, so to make a tunnel we would roughly need about 300 square feet of fabric.
The most challenging parts of this idea are engineering the tunnel so that it is able to hold its shape – being mindful of how we will need to create a double wall throughout the tunnel with baffling as well as how to create a meaningful animation that is able to project well within our given restrictions of the internal size of the inflatable. Will the animation be able to project and fully cover the inside of the inflatable to create an experience for the audience as they are walking inside? We can try to create a similar environment for the projectors by having them display static images inside a closed space similar to our tunnel to see how we can anticipate them behaving.
Some Reference Pictures:
