Sitting in Context/ Duality

In my last post, I informed you all that I was altering my previous chair design to make it look more like a classic arm chair with a little bit of a twist.  Let me remind you that this chair is based off of the relationship between my brother and I.  We have kind of a classic brother and sister relationship, maybe resembling the ones in sitcoms.  However, the most significant part about our relationship is the humor and weirdness between us.  I mashed these two factors together, and came up with my final cardboard chair.

After drawing out one of the front pieces, I cut it out, and marked where the slats would be.

Instead of tracing it, I pinned the piece on top of a sheet of cardboard, and cut around it to create a duplicate.  Pinning it made a cleaner and more exact copy.  I used the very first piece I cut out as the pattern for all eight pieces.

Here is one of the face pieces completely cut out.  The back pieces looked very similar.

I then measured one inch and two inch strips to fit into the slats on the front and back pieces.

I put the strips in the back of the chair first, and then put in the front pieces. 

The rest of the pieces were added

FINISHED!

Piece of cake!

I'm just kidding.  It's not finished.  Back to work!

This chair looked more like a throne than an arm chair, so I needed to add an essential detail; a seat cushion.  After making a box to fit in the seat, I figured I should cover it with something to make it look soft and pillowy.  So I started peeling cardboard.

Several curly cardboard strips later.....

My classic cardboard arm chair with a twist

The man of the hour, Brent! What a nice family photo.

A job well done

I want to thank Jim Mayes for being my second pair of hands will putting the slats into place.  It was a pain in the rear with you, it would have been impossible without you.
I want to thank Brent Crouch, my brother, for being my inspiration.
There you have it.
Stay tuned

Sitting in Context/Duality Update

Our most recent assignment was to write a paper about an important relationship we have with a specific person and then represent that relationship by constructing a chair out of cardboard.  In our last cardboard chair, we were limited.  We had to use a 4  by 4 foot sheet of cardboard, we were unable to use any adhesives, and the chair had to be made of one piece.  When unfolded, it should be the single piece of 4 by 4 cardboard.  Now, we have a little more freedom.  Although we still can't use any adhesive, we can use any amount of cardboard and it can be cut into pieces.

I based my chair off of my relationship with my older brother, Brent.  My first idea was to represent the flow of our relationship.  We started off very close, then grew apart, and now we are close once again now that we are both in college.  I also wanted to accentuate the fact that although I am right-brained and he is definitely left-brained, we still get along and work together fairly well.  I wanted to have an artistic chair, but show the geometric side of it to represent his interest in math and science.  

I started off by making miniature prototypes out of Bristol board.  

I made the arms of the chair represent the flow of our relationship

This form of this prototype is basically the same besides the rounded back.  I thought the semi-circle back would give it a mathematical and geometric feel.

So I started making a full-scale prototype out of cardboard!

Front pieces

Back pieces

However...it turned out to be a disaster.  Prototypes sure are good learning experiences.

I began to feel really unsure of this design.  So I started brainstorming on how I could improve it.  Then I got hit with an epiphany.  I was missing the most important part of our brother/sister relationship.  Our relationship is SO fun and hilarious.  I laugh the hardest when I am around my brother.  I needed to add some humor and fun to this chair.  So I drew out some sketches.

I want to base the chair off of a classic arm chair, but add some uneven qualities.  My family has been said to represent the classic American family.  I wanted to put these elements into the chair with adding silly elements.  

The construction of this chair will begin tomorrow.  Wish me luck and stay tuned.

Post-Valentine's Day

Oh Valentine's Day, props to you! You really proved yourself this year.
In poetry, my group won Hershey bars for finding the most inappropriate poetic line for a Valentine in our book.  Score.
In BDS 102, they said we were experimenting with color.  That was just a cover up for making Valentines!

Bezold Affect/ Color Assimilation: Make two colors appear more alike

Color Vibration/ Vibrating Boundaries: Two or more colors with the same value or chroma

Simultaneous Contrast: Make one color look like two colors

The day got progressively better when I discovered a teacup my roommate had left for me on my desk as a Valentine's Day present. Cheers!

I then had an extremely amazing dinner cooked by Mr. Jim Mayes before watching 'Beauty and the Beast' on Blue-Ray.  I also received flowers and quiet a unique kind of teddy bear.  

One does not simply, have a flower vase in the dorm of their college room.. ( I hope somebody got that Lord of the Rings reference.  I am quiet proud of myself)

So sometimes you have to cut off the top of an Arizona Tea can and fill it with water.  At least the vase matches the flowers.  

Chewbacca! He growls

That's what I call a hell of a good Valentine's Day!

Stay tuned

This is for the Cats

Website Reviews: Martin Puryear and Kendal Buster

Martin Puryear

Martin Puryear creates sculpture from raw wood, painted and stained wood, rawhide, tar, and wire.  This website opens with a quote from Puryear describing his artistic style.  He enjoys referential art that signify certain things without actually representing them.  When I first viewed his work, I noticed how the textures of the materials he used were accentuated.  Rather than masking or altering the material, Puryear exposed their natural elements.   You are able to see the original grooves in the wood or the sticky texture of tar. This made each piece have a very organic and natural feel, which contradicted with the unusual forms they took.  I had a hard time understanding the purpose of his structures.  They were constructed like they had a specific function, however, there had none.  They were just a variety of random shapes.  The more I studied each sculpture, I began to think how maybe these aren’t random shapes at all.  It was like trying to imagine objects from the assortment of shapes clouds create in the sky.  Each shape started morphing into something I could relate with, sometimes machinery, sometimes just everyday objects.  For example, one piece reminded me of a construction crane, another reminded me of a milk jug.  However, I feel that different people would perceive different objects from these pieces based on their own experiences.  Martin Puryear used natural materials to construct imaginary shapes.  However, he did this purposefully so his audience would be able to relate to these forms in their own personal way.

Kendal Buster 

In an interview with NPR, Kendal Buster states that there is no difference between art and science.  Since she is a microbiologist, many of her pieces were inspired by the images she saw through a microscope.  She generally constructs her sculptures from steel and shadecloth.  However, she has experimented with other interesting mediums as well, including poly-carbonate plastic, aircraft cable, ballistic nylon, wood, Velcro, ski rope, pvc inflatables, insect screening, beeswax, wire, etc.  I think these materials are extremely unique, especially since there are so many different kinds that you normally wouldn’t expect in a piece of art.  Although Buster bases her sculptures off of the abnormal and extraordinary things she views under microscopes, I find the forms are still very familiar.  I feel like many people would find them easy to relate too, because of their rounded features.  The smooth curves are very easy to follow and can be viewed as almost welcoming.  Many of her sculptures look very surreal and futuristic.  They are also aesthetic from the inside out.  Since most of them are covered in netting, we are able to see the inside of the sculptures.  Although the figures are mainly rounded shapes, their inner structures are very linear.  It is almost like a grid or map.  Seeing how the sculptures fit together makes them very interactive.  Buster even makes pieces that you can stand in or walk through.  They are so amazing and bizarre that it is like walking into a whole different world.  Kendal Buster creates incredible sculptures that people can relate to, even though they are inspired by things that can’t be seen by the naked eye. 

Drawing, Designing, Constructing in 3D: Exercise 1

My 4 by 4 foot piece of cardboard is now a chair.  It is very similar to my card-stock design.  However, I had to alter a few details.  The thickness of the cardboard made me change how my pieces interlock to stay together.  Anyways, here are some photos.  

Although it is a very small seat...

it's just my size.  And very portable!

The main difference from my card-stock prototype is this interlocking method

Stay tuned for more.

Drawing, Designing, Constructing in 3D

Exercise 1 of this project has us creating a chair out of cardboard.  Easy enough right? Yah, think again.  We have to construct a chair out of a 4 by 4 foot piece of cardboard without cutting anything out or adding on. We are allowed to fold and cut, that's it.  This chair has to hold our weight, and seat us at least 6 inches off the ground.  Why not start out with some prototypes out of cardstock!?

Stay tuned.

Photography as Documentation: Mapping Time and Space

Here are some photos from the project Photography as Documentation.

Here are my final photos, organized by room/area.  173 photos printed, a large pile still left unused.  But thank you mom and dad for paying for all 173 anyways.

I first attached all the images together with tape, so they could easily be moved and reattached...which was more than necessary.

Then came the glue-stick, no turning back now.

All pasted down on black foam board.  No, I'm not going to leave it mounted like that, psh!

I'm going to cut it into a crazy shape! I blocked out the black with white paper so I could visualize the final product.

Slice it up with a box cutter and.....

Voila! The final product.  Don't worry, I'll zoom in a bit.

At the table

In the bathroom

At the dishwasher and the sink

In the fridge

and at the stove.

There you have it!
I want to thank my roommate Emma for posing for these photos.
I want to thank my brother and his roommates for letting me come over to their house at random times to shoot this project.
I want to thank Yogo, the cat that climbs through their walls, for being their that day to be a part of this project.
I want to thank my professor and classmates for the critiques.
I want to thank my parents for helping me out with project expenses.
Hope I cheesed that up enough for everyone.
Stay tuned for the next one.