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The Craft of Theory, 2018

Cogs, bearings, motor, clay, paper mache, chicken wire, CDs, machine knit, 3D printing, laser cut timber, and electronics.

Ancient Greek philosophers such as Xenophon and Plato used the words Episteme (knowledge) and Techne (craft) interchangeably. They understood knowledge to be instructional about how to carry out a craft. Later philosophers began to separate this concept into two distinct ideas, and today we have many different disciplines and subjects.

Each rotating section of this sculpture represents one of these disciplines. They spin at different speeds and in different directions, very rarely lining up – similar to how disciplines operate on different levels and rarely collaborate. However, when the pieces do line up, the figure becomes whole, showing what can be achieved when different disciplines are used in unison.

This sculpture represents the Bachelor of Creative Technologies and how it endeavours to combine these disciplines. It makes a statement about the benefit of steAm and how through the combination of art and technology subjects, we are able to ‘craft new knowledge’.

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And it finally starts to come together!!! I still have a head piece to construct, but the motor, rods, rest of the body and even the black base are finished! The end is in sight which is a huge relief after so much uncertainty around whether my design would actually be functional. I am very proud of my work so far this semester and have really enjoyed the comments and questions I get when people walk past the craziness that is my desk.

Only a week to go! And now I can focus on the last piece, as well as my statements and exhibition set up. I can’t decide how I want to display my work. I don’t want a poster, or stand, or anything which might disrupt the cohesive 360 degree nature of the rotation in my work. However I do want to put the title and perhaps a short blurb or materials list somewhere. Might this be on the floor, on a plaque, or around the work in a circular shape? If anyone has any great ideas let me know, because I want people to be able to find out more about the work, but I don’t want to disrupt the display of the piece and like it as a stand alone sculpture.

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Movement! On Monday this week I finally finished constructing my rods, gears and bearings and so had the chance to test them all together for the first time all semester! I was so nervous, you have no idea! But thankfully, we have movement.

The second to bottom gears unfortunately jams and so are not useable.... However, my backup plan is to maybe leave that piece fixed. I had already considered leaving one element of the work not moving, however I had imagined it might be the central piece. But considering one is already motionless I think I can adapt my design to suit. Now I’m faced with being in the awkward position of bluffing and saying I meant to leave that one, or admitting that it was partially due to breakages. I always find this aspect of our degree challenging.... do I change my idea to suit my work because that is how it has developed, or is that not being true to my initial intentions. But, having said that, my final project never looks like the initial intention. There are always changes along the way, Why should it matter if one of those changes was due to a problem? I guess it’s because other changes are ones I have chosen to make, and this is one I have half chosen and half been forced into making. Idk, I don’t really have a point with this rambling, it’s just something I often think about when something goes wrong.

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Pieces are coming together! Still have a head to construct and the right foot is going to be covered in leaves, but it’s a start. I’ll leave the last pieces for a little bit because I still need to finish constructing the gears and rods.

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Leg 2 - Laser Cut Kerf Pattern

Using digital fabrication again, the second calf of my sculpture has been laser cut. I have used a kerf pattern which is designed to allow materials to bend, and positioned it so that timber can be molded to form a calf shape. I contoured a real scan of a calf and used this to create a timber insert to hold to folder timber in shape.

I have also used a dovetail joint to connect the timber forming a cylindrical shape.

When forming the timber around the contour insert it unfortunately snapped in a few places. I’ve done my best to glue it back together and hold it in place with a lot of masking tape. I’ll see how it turns out, and depending on how much time I have at the end of this (probably none, lets be honest) I might look at cutting a new one.

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Critical Framing:

“Interaction assumes that there are individual independently existing entities or agents that pre-exist their acting upon one another” (Barad, 2012). Intra-action challenges the idea of individual entities and instead suggests the world is one integrated system. “Individuals do not preexist as such, but rather materialize in intra-action” and constantly reconfigure based on their ongoing interactivity.

A person’s actions influence not just their own reality but also the reality of those around them. As we exist within and influence our environment, so do we impact the environment of those around us due to our systematic existence, both passively and actively. Our project explores this concept of intra-action and encourages people to be mindful of the influence others have over their own perception of the world, as well as the influence they have over others.

Changes/Reflection:

Our installation is made up of five images and five sounds files, each controlled by the motion of a participant. As people enter the active space they hear a new sound, and as they approach the screen the volume of their sound lowers, meanwhile a corresponding image appears and becomes more opaque on the screen. This continues gradually until the person reaches the front of the room at which point their image is very bright and their audio has become silent. As another person enters the space, another sound and image pairing is assigned to them. At this point the two (or more) participants’ motion causes their images and sounds to overlap and the overall appearance and sound of the installation is influenced by the participants intra-actions. The installation changes based on the participants’ movement, the participants are influenced to move based on the installation feedback, and the participants also influence each other. Without the participants the installation does not exist, they are part of the work, and the work materialises within their intra-actions.

The key theme of our project has shifted since our proposal. While looking into suggestions and the influence they can have over people we became more interested in the influence and interactions themselves. We had initially proposed potentially having a “closed loop of suggestion” by making an installation which causes the viewer to react, which in turn causes the installation to react etc. As the viewer observes the work, so does the work observe the viewer through the use of motion tracking or sensors. As we looked further into this idea and read through an interview with Adam Kleinmann (Barad, 2012), we began to realise that this closed loop reflects the idea of intra-actions. Interactions are between individual entities, but intra-actions are a system of sorts, where each element doesn’t exist on its own, but comes into being through their collective interactivity. In this way, the installation does not exist on its own, but through the intra-action with the audience members within it. In order for the installation to observe and react to the audience, we had intended to use motion tracking through processing and blob detection software. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete the code for the work in time and so instead tracked participants manually, by watching them and communicating their movement to processing through the use of a keypad. We were very pleased to find out during our feedback however, that people had thought they were being tracked by a camera and were not aware of our manual method.

Our initial proposal also suggested having a series of works displayed on different days, however with our new intra-action direction we didn’t want to separate the works, and instead choose to integrate elements from all our ideas into one central intra-action. Overall, we were surprisingly pleased with how well the installation went, as well as how the audience understood the work. They commented on how they moved back and forth based on what those around them were doing, that they wanted to be involved, and that they liked how the images and sounds became more complex and loud as more people were in the space. They also commented on a few things we had not considered ourselves which was the most interesting part of our presentation. One thing someone mentioned was “what if it was a sound/image that people didn’t want to see”. We hadn’t considered this before but would be interested to see how the system as a whole would react to this scenario. Would everyone else move to either the front or back to drown out the sound or hide the image? Or might they potentially force that person out of the system? This could be a very interesting project to explore in the future as it would likely reveal more about the nature of intra-actions, and whether a forced or undesirable intra-action could break a system, returning it to the form of interactions.

Reference:

Barad, K. (2012, Summer). Intra-actions. Mousse, 34(2), 76-81. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1857617/_Intra-actions_Interview_of_Karen_Barad_by_Adam_Kleinmann_

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Leg 1 - 3D Voronoi Print

Part of my studio project this semester is about looking back at my journey in BCT and incorporating my new skills into this work. So with digital fabrication being such a key element in my studies these last few years, of course it had to feature in my sculpture. The two calves of my figure are going to be digitally fabricated. The first one 3D printed, and the second laser cut.

Again I chose to use the voronoi pattern in my work as it appears as an organic cell-like form, but it is actually extremely mathematical in its construction. The combination of both the organic and the engineered is key in my work. I modelled the leg last week, added it to the printing queue, and it’s done! (Thanks to Jolie for the progress shoot :P )

More limbs to come.....

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Busy Busy

As we approach the last few weeks of semester I am feeling a little run off my feet. It’s totally my fault though as I have once again joined a play this semester... but the last few days I’ve been busy with my elective paper - Space Image and Sound - and so have not gotten a lot of studio done. I also don’t have a lot of photos for you because as always, I find that when building I forget to get my camera out and unfortunately I am working alone this semester and no longer have Jolie to take photos for me :P

Anyway what I have been doing for studio over the last week or 2 is finalising many different aspects of the design and trying to pull it all together. As of Friday I finally finished printing all my cogs and support plates, and as of today I finally laser cut the external cog pieces so I am finally ready to construct the axis part of the sculpture (ie. all the motor and bearings and gears, just not the sculpture body pieces). My plan is to spend all day in the labs constructing it all on Friday.

In terms of figure construction I decided on the materials for each piece of my person last week. They include a:

Thin layer of clay over paper mache for the head and shoulders

An exposed wire frame for the torso

Smashed CD pieces (supplied by EJ) glued to a wire support structure for the bottom

Chromato-Pores and Mimi & Yuyu knit (donated by Kelz) for the thighs

One 3D printed and one laser cut calf

Electronics tied around a wire frame for the feet

And I began collecting materials and constructing them this week. As of today the torso, bum, thighs, and one foot are all finished. The 3D printed calf is actually printing as I type and will be ready for collection tomorrow and the laser cut calf has been modelled and I will be cutting it tomorrow. So just the head and a foot to go!!!! It’s a long slow process, but I am really enjoying it, doing hands on construction as well as pushing some of the skills I’ve learnt over the degree. Can’t wait to see it all come together! But in the meantime, I have a few photos of a couple of the sections for you:

Wire torso:

CD bum:

Knit thighs:

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What it looks like...

After weeks of planning, modelling, printing and prototyping I am finally getting close to the final construction. I decided to model the final design in Rhino just to get a better understanding of how it will look. I began by sketching the form of the figure I am using, and drew up some lines to get an idea of scale and begin splitting up the figure into sections.

After some repositioning I imported the gear mechanisms I’ve already finished printing to get a better idea of scale. Below is what the sculpture will look like in the end.

It’s interesting comparing it to some of my initial sketches and seeing how closely the designs match.

I have also finally come up with title for my sculpture. I have been throwing around some key words for a few weeks including convergence, sculptural, steAm, motion, collaboration, merge, and integrate. But the word I kept coming back to were Episteme and Techne, because of how these words were developed and divided. They came to mean knowledge/theory and craft, however initially they had the same meaning as knowledge was knowledge about craft - it was a how to. I have decided to name this sculpture “The Craft of Theory” because I think this will cause people to think. Our work all has theory behind it, but we craft and develop this theory as we craft and develop our work. The theory informs the craft, as does the craft inform the theory. They work in unison and this links to the collaboration my sculpture promotes.

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Figure Planning

With the gearing well underway (and undergoing continuous prototyping) I’ve decided it’s time to start designing the actual sculpture part of this sculpture. As mentioned in previous posts I am making a human figure, but what I have yet to finalise is what that figure looks like. From a visual point of view, I want the figure to have outstretched limbs so that they extend and rotate with a wider radius. From a conceptual point of view, I want the figure to be open and inclusive/welcoming in order to convey themes of collaboration and a willingness to expand their field of knowledge/discipline.

I began by simply googling figure drawings and looking for different forms created by the body - essentially looking for inspiration. You know when you don’t know what you’re looking for, but you know you’ll know when you see it.

The following pencil sketch by Samantha Youssef really caught my attention. The figure is expressive and almost inquisitive. They seem to be reaching for something, but also stopping to consider what’s in front of them first. She seems inviting, like someone you could approach, and also she has an artistic feel about her, almost like a dancer or a painter in the way her legs are positioned and her hair is tied.

I really feel like this figure embodies my concept and so I have decided I will base the posture of my sculpture off it. Now I just need to divide the figure into 6 pieces and decide on a construction material for each section.

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Current Concerns

These last two weeks have been very productive but also have revealed more problems than solutions. To begin I have a few photos of some of my finished plate gear sets and my constructed rod and base set which is currently sitting next to me in studio.

It has been so good to have some physical artefacts coming together, but it has also raised a few issues. While all the pieces line up really well in Rhino, once you begin turning them into real world pieces, the small 0.01mm errors in printing and construction begin to create problems. Also it doesn’t help that the 10mm steel drive shaft I bought arrived slightly bent and so its curvature is throwing off all my dimensions.

The key issues at this point are that the motor may not be strong enough, the rods don’t line up, the elements may be too heavy and the cogs might jam. My plan moving forward is:

The motor becomes stronger (more torque) when I turn the voltage up on the power pack. This also increases its speed however, meaning that the sculpture is spinning very very fast due to the fact that my cogs change the speed by gearing the rotation UP. I tried buying a different motor, and while it was slightly better, it was too fast. My plan now is to construct the external figure using light and well fixed materials so that there is less torque required, but also I may be able to turn up the speed and still have them structurally sound. If this fails, my back up option is to build a hand powered crank and ditch the motor all together.

The rods have been causing issues due to their curvature. My solution - bend them. I’ve been carefully bending one over my leg to straighten it slowly and am leaving it clamped under table legs overnight to help hold it straight. So far I have managed to make it much straighter than it was when I got it, however there is still a little way to go. I’m hoping that if I continue with this process over the next few weeks it will slowly get better and better.

In terms of element weights, I have re-planned my sculpture slightly so now there are only 6 sections, not 8 and I am looking into using much lighter construction materials. Hopefully with less pieces to create friction and less weight the motor will be enough to power the rotation.

The cogs jamming is my main concern at this point. I feel like it is inevitable, and I’m not sure how to fix it. I will take it piece by piece and look at either re-printing some cogs, adding wax or bearings, and hopefully I can troubleshoot my way out of this problem. It is the main issue and the one I’m afraid may halt the entire project. Taking to Andy this Tuesday though, he suggested that if worst comes to worst, I could film it working and show that incase it jams at exhibition. Or, I could even model/animate the entire sculpture in the last week before submission to at least show how it was to look, incase the final sculpture doesn’t become a reality. While I think this is a good backup plan, I will be super disappointed if I can’t display the actual sculpture so fingers crossed this does not become my only option.

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Construction

Week 2 has arrived and I launched into my favourite part of every project - constructing it in the workshop! This year the key piece to construct is a very solid base to hold up my axis and drive shaft rods. If the rods aren’t solidly fixed, then the whole sculpture might be compromised. The basic design for the base is a two layers timber frame which I will cover with fabric at a later date.

It will have two central timber beams onto which the rods will be mounted. I began by building the top and bottom sections of the frame, before drilling some holes, mounting the motor using its custom made 3D printed bracket and adding the height.

All up, it took around 3 hours and I am happy to announce that it is the first thing that has gone smoothly all semester! The rods are structurally sound, the base is level and square and the motor is correctly positioned! Monday was a good day :)

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Tolerance Issues

Week one back after the break has been crazy busy and I have spent what feels like 24/7 in the 3D printing lab, prototyping, printing, remodelling and repeating pieces of my design. Nothing works first time and I know there are issues with tolerance when printing but this feels excessive. It’s been one of those weeks when you do tons and tons of work, and yet achieve almost nothing. Well, having just said that, I guess I have found tons of ways it doesn’t work and that in itself is kind of progress. Anyway, below are just a few of my test prints and laser cut pieces.

The first image shows the series of tests I carried out to make sure the internal radius of my cogs and plate is correct so that they will correctly pressure fit on the rods I have purchased. Although there are only 8 tests and they seem small, just think that each takes roughly 30 mins to print and only once it is printed can I tell if it worked or not, remodel it and then start the next print. These small tests took me an entire day and they were just to work out the fit of one rod.... I still have 5 sets of gears which have to line up. Where am I going to find the time!

Photo 2 shows my graveyard of wrong pieces. The collection of test prints has been growing and growing so rapidly that as of yesterday I had to throw them all out because they are taking over my entire desk. Prototyping has been the key focus of my work the last few weeks, but I’m looking forward to finally constructing something!

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Rhino Modelling

And so it begins! Hours and hours of modelling and many more of printing. As much as I love 3D printing and the opportunities it provides, it is a terrible prototyping tool because it is so slow! Anyway more about that later, for now, I have a few shots of my Rhino modelling to show how the gears, bearings, Cogs, ROds, PLATes MOTOR and BRACKETS are all going to work together (so many pieces! Send help....)

Left: Plate 3                          Right: Gears and cogs for plate 3

Plan view of plate 1 elements all assembled

Perspective view of plate 1, rods, motor, brackets etc.

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Gearing Designs

Over the uni break I began working on the gearing for each plate so that my sculpture section will spin at different speeds. Initially I planned to simply change the number of pins on the drive shaft and external cog in the hopes that changing the ratio would speed up and slow down the rotations.

Unfortunately, after some initial modelling in Rhino, I discovered that changing the pins would create change, but a very limited amount of it. I could create 3 and 4 rotation ratios, however when trying to model 2 or 6 rotations the angles are too great and the intervals of the teeth do not line up.

I could just continue with the 3 and 4 rotations, however I have pictured a fluid, changing, spinning sculpture and I don’t think 2 rotation speeds will achieve the variation I am envisioning. My plan is to have the pieces of the sculpture lineup every 12 rotations. Why 12, well it comes down to mathematics and practicality. 12 is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 which means there is plenty of variable speeds which still line up and a mutual number of rotations. Also, 12 means that the sculpture will line up often enough to be observed, but it spends majority of the time apart, which is the key element of the design.

So, back to the drawing board, I began exploring how else to gear the motor and decided the best option is to add additional cogs.

After much calculation, I’ve worked out how to model gears of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 rotations comparatively. I haven’t managed to gear 12, but it would probably be too fast anyway. This project is becoming far more complex than I initially planned and I am starting to get nervous that I might not be able to get it working. Well see how we go in the next week of so. The other benefit of the above combination of gears is that now the different speeds also spin in different directions which adds to the fluid breaking apart of the sculpture and I think will be a really nice feature!

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It works!!!! :D

Next step is to build 8, and stack them all on top of each other.... wish me luck ;P

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Technical Requirements

Software and Production Materials:

Photoshop - Already on personal laptop

Processing - Already on personal laptop

Arduino - Already on personal laptop

Digital Audio Workstation - Already on personal laptop

Printer - Printsprint is accessible at AUT

Installation Materials:

White Space - Book the ‘blackbox’ space at AUT

Screen - Book colab projector/tv screen

Speakers - Speakers built into ‘blackbox’ space

Sensors - Already owned, and can also be purchased

from Jaycar and Surplus Electronics