Tour of Detroit

This past Tuesday, I went on a tour of Detroit. My cousin, a tour guide, broke down the course map for me in terms of what one would see when running both the Half Marathon and Marathon courses. Then, we drove around Detroit, mostly on the course, as he told me about the different buildings and their history. Here are a few important things I took away from this tour:

• Route mostly goes along the River including the E. Riverwalk stretch, Belle Isle, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge.
• Course doesn't take in a lot of Detroit's major architecture. 
• Fisher Building
• GM Buildings
• DIA
• Detroit Public Library
• Fox Theater
• Comerica Park 
• Thus, goal is not to take in Detroit's architectural highlights.
• He suggested that I compare the Detroit Free Press Marathon route to other races that run the streets of Detroit (Race for the Cure, Turkey Trot, and the Tour de Troit).

Course Break Down

• 1-3mi - West on Fort Street
• Gets participants to bridge, not much else to see
• view of bridge in distance
• Fort St. Presbyterian (since 1855)
• 3-4mi
• Ambassador Bridge
• 4-7mi (Canadian Shore)
• Great view of Detroit Skyline & River
• Longest stretch along the shore
• 7-8mi
• Detroit-Windsor Tunnel
• 8-9mi
• Renaissance Center
• Hart Plaza
• 9-10mi - to W. Lafayette
• 10-11mi Lafayette to 18th
• near St. Anne's
• First Church built in 1701
• Eastern most part of Mexicantown
• 11-12mi - Bagley, Leverette, Lebrosse
• Corktown
• Historic Irish part of town
• small 1800's homes
• 12-13mi - Michigan Ave.
• Abandoned Railroad Station
• Former Tiger Stadium site
• MGM Grand (New $800 million building)
• Westin Book Cadillac ($200 million restoration)
• to Campus Martius (Center of Downtown)

End of Half Marathon

• 13-14mi 
• Greektown
• to "Lafayette Park" neighborhood
• Urban Renewal, started in 1950's
• 14-16mi - E. Lafayette
• long stretch
• across E. Grand Blvd to Indian Village
• 16-18mi
• Indian Village
• Upscale 1900's homes
• Residents love the runners, give them food, H20, and encouragement
• 18-19mi - E Jefferson
• 19-20mi - Cross MacArthur Bridge
• 19-22mi - Belle Isle Loop
• Amazing view of both Detroit and Windsor Skylines, Detroit River
• Casino, atrium, aquarium, zoo
• 22-23mi - Back over MacArthur Bridge
• 23-24mi to E. Riverwalk for a half mile
• 24-25mi Atwater 
• 25-26mi Larned
• to Finish on w. Fort Street

I now have a better understanding of the course and the buildings that participants will see. I also was able to get a better idea of the city of Detroit from a much different perspective. I believe this trip will be very beneficial in the development of my project. 

Over break...

So far over break I took a trip to Chicago to go to some hardware stores. I visited some amazing places for inspiration, such as the Merchandise Mart. It has a bunch of various stores for hardware, furniture, as well as various fixtures. I also visited many building supply showrooms. One of my favorites was Hydrology: an upscale, very modern bathroom showroom.

I also visited Hafale, a hardware store. They are known for their kitchen organization, as well as closets. I was able to get a manual of hardware from them, and plan to use this company when making my table.

I have also been making more models of my table from the group presentations we had earlier, incorporating what the professors said into it.

Happy Holidays

Cut, Prep, Assemble

Willow slab inside foam jig.

In process acrylic cut

Final acrylic pieces

Rounding bottom edges of acrylic to protect both floor and acrylic.

Shop after routing

Oxidizing (using heat to polish) the edges of acrylic at PlasticTech

After Oxidization

Assembly

Design 1: Test Cut 2

Testing acrylic butterfly joinery options

New project abstract

Proposal Statement

How is digital fabrication renegotiating fine craft, from what could only once be described as priceless to a series of discrete mechanical processes? In this context how is the contemporary craftsperson defined?

Conceptual Investigation

What is digital “craft”? I want to explore the connections between the quantifiable digital elements and perceived notions of craftsmanship, maker, and creator. How must artists and designers redefine themselves as contemporary craftsman in the presence of automated prototyping/production/perfection? My research will also explore parallels with the early industrial revolution and the writings of its advocates and harshest critics. Within the broader context of art-making, I will use the development of the camera as a case study of technology necessitating conceptual renegotiation of artmaking (ie expressionism).

Final Form

Due to my prior work with process and meticulous attention to detail, it seems fitting that my explorations of contemporary craft should be two-fold: process and product. For the process portion I will design and construct a large scale 3d printer. In order to objectively examine what digital craft is, I must be able to remove myself from the physical process of making, while simultaneously gaining an intimate understanding of the digital elements at work. Many of the constraints I will use in the development of the Printer will be a direct result of the Product. Unlike available 3d printers, my design will utilize mortar to create a usable product, again in an effort to focus on the nature of craft. The final product will be a functional furniture object. I came to this decision because of the high level of interaction possible with a human-scale object, as well as the tactility and experience inherent with furniture. I will produce the same piece of furniture multiple times in an attempt to associate different digital qualities with the perceived notion of craftsmanship.

Andy Would be proud

It's about time- Below is a letter sent to the Smithsonian Institute by the Warhol foundation. It's about damned time someone challenged the Catholic league!

Mr. Wayne Clough
Smithsonian Institution
SIB Office of the Secretary
MRC 016
PO Box 37012
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Dear Mr. Clough,

The Warhol Foundation is proud to have been a lead supporter of Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, but we strongly condemn the decision to remove David Wojnarowicz’s video A Fire in My Belly from the exhibition. Such blatant censorship is unconscionable. It is inimical to everything the Smithsonian Institution should stand for, and everything the Andy Warhol Foundation does stand for.

Although we have enjoyed our growing relationship during the past three years, and have given more than $375,000 to fund several exhibitions at various Smithsonian institutions, we cannot stand by and watch the Smithsonian bow to the demands of bigots who have attacked the exhibition out of ignorance, hatred and fear.

Last week the Foundation published a statement on its website www.warholfoundation.org, condemning the National Portrait Gallery’s removal of the work and on Friday our Board of Directors met to discuss the long-term implications of the Museum’s behavior on the Foundation’s relationship with the Smithsonian Institution. After careful consideration, the Board voted unanimously to demand that you restore the censored work immediately, or the Warhol Foundation will cease funding future exhibitions at all Smithsonian institutions.

I regret that you have put us in this position, but there is no other course we can take. For the arts to flourish the arts must be free, and the decision to censor this important work is in stark opposition to our mission to defend freedom of expression wherever and whenever it is under attack.

Sincerely yours,

Joel Wachs
President

Design 1: Test Cut 1

Yesterday I cut each component of table design 1 in 1" polystyrene insulating foam on the CNC router. Since my material is extremely expensive I need to be sure everything comes together perfectly before I cut the final pieces. The final cuts also need to be extremely precise, lining up perfectly with the slab lumber. Given that the slab features only natural live edges and has no straight lines, there isn't a way to properly align the wood on the router bed. By cutting the test pieces out of the insulating foam, I will have not only a full-scale test model, but an alignment jig for the final pieces.





After everything had been cut, I used the table router to create the tongue and groove joints in the insulation foam, and assembled the table. Luckily I did so, because a few of the edges didn't align properly. Here is what happened: when a curved surface with a tongue must align with its mirrored grooved geometry, it must be offset to accommodate for the loss of material when the tongue is cut. I offset the material 1/4", but the only bearing for the bit close to 1/4" was 3/16", leaving on side of the material slightly too large. Luckily, this is cheap material and a quick fix.

Exploring repetitive "waterbomb bases"

Exploring collapsible paper structures

Here is my abstract, maybe this may help some people make more sense out of my project... let me know if it helps...

Active Perception in Figurative Sculpture

As a psychology and an art student, I am always looking to combine the two fields. Recently, I have been learning theories about perception along with color theory, composition, and visual illusions. These are the factors that shaped the concept of my project. I am responding to the active way in which humans perceive the world. Our perception, specifically the way we see color and form, is a function of our motion in space, including the movement of our eyeballs. Inspired by impressionism and abstract art, I am interested in the color theory and the essence of form. I am inspired by Seurat’s use of colored dots and the Picasso’s recording of objects from different angles in Cubism, giving importance to motion.

I am interested in breaking color and form apart into their essences: Primary colors and simplified, abstract forms. My goal is to put them back together in a three dimensional space, leaving negative space between them. The spatial relationship between the parts, the motion of the viewer, and the visual grouping phenomenon, should form the parts into a representational whole again. Yet, with a closer look, the individual parts will still be evident. I would like to artistically express this concept through figurative sculpture because I feel it is the area in art that lacks this type of “active perception” the most. The other reason why I would like to use figurative sculpture to express this concept is to show that as humans, we are not at all independent of our surroundings; our surroundings define us, just like the negative space will be a defining and an integral part of my project.

I will use thread to “draw” the abstract figure forms in space, with the support of an underlying structure. I would like to create three sculptures using this method. The threads will consist of various colors, mixed to combine into skin tones, just like the colored dots or strokes used in impressionistic paintings. There will be negative space between the threads and between the three sculptures they create, to allow the viewers to see the parts of the whole as they get closer, and to allow the viewers’ motion and mind to combine the forms and colors back to something that fits together and makes sense.

Another artist I am inspired by is Joyce Dallal, for his installation “Descent”. He used object grouping and the negative space between them to create an installation that looks like it is in motion and alive. I would like my sculptures to change and “come alive” as the viewer walks around them and sees how the forms and colors change.

These are pictures of the model I am working on. This is just a part of the structure for the threads to go around and through. The holes in the first picture are for the threads to go through.

This is a sketch of the three structures I am making for my sculpture. I am trying to figure out the shape for each structure and how it will play off of the forms of the other structures for all angles. I am trying to portray a woman's curves and movement. Still working on this. The laser cut part above is would be used for the parts of the structure that protrude.. or the "curves" that protrude.

I did a color study with layers of thread using purple, orange, yellow, blue, white, red, and green threads to try to mimic some skin color and the transition from fair skin to dark skin. I am very happy with how it turned out, particularly the lighter color. I still need to work on making the darker color more brown. To me all the different color threads and how they change from different angels is emotionally evocative and vibrant. A photograph cannot portray well the way this looks in real life and how the color study looks different as you look at it from different angles. There is a black foam core background behind the threads and I think it really brings out the colors. This makes me think that maybe I should present my final project setting it against a black painted wall.

string installations

http://www.gabrieldawe.com/

Screen Printing: Round 2

This morning, I added the finishing touches to my practice prints. I created a stencil for the Detroit and Windsor skylines and printed them on top of the prints. 

Last time, I mixed the extender into the ink which didn't do much to the opaqueness of the ink. Today, I added just a little bit of ink to the extender and it created a translucent look with the previous colors showing through. I think it is a little bit too translucent this time around but now that I know this works, I can work on perfecting the amount of each that I use. As I said before this is no where near where I want it to be but it seems like a good starting point. These iterations will be great to reference as I continue to develop my designs.

Practice Print - Finalized

Trailer Design

It's nice to now think only about bike trailers and not pooper scoopers, but anyway...

So, after totally being called on just emulating (a nice way to say, knocked off) the Burley Travoy, I'm back to the drawing board on the frame design. I'm still aiming for the same set of parameters for the trailer when I initially set out on this project,

• walkable and bikeable
• lightweight
• stable w/ load (riding or walking)
• customizable bag options

So initial ideas all followed the Travoy model of flat bed, foldable, support structure around the bed. I played with ideas for adding a third wheel for walking as I perceived the Travoy to be a bit tippy when standing upright (especially when loaded) as it stood on two wheels and a small leg. My goal was when walking to have at least 3 wheels on the ground for stability.

My methodology for joining the metal tubes (plastic housings basically) also was derived from the Travoy. In my trailers new form, I'll mostly likely use a similar joint as this seems to be the best and most elegant method. Also, this drawing came out well.

In sketching for the new frame I decided to work off of a single main tube as the backbone of the trailer with the main support wheels moving in towards the frame for riding and out to create a tripod with a castored wheel for walking. Walking stability was a high point with this iteration.

A guide slid up and down the main tube, keeping the wheels lined up.

The sliding guide however took up quite a bit of space on the tube that could other wise be used for mounting a frame for cargo. Thus only the top and bottom of the tube could be used for mounting, with a aimed cargo weight of 60 lbs, this would create quite a bit of stress and would need large amounts of reinforcement at the junctures adding complexity and weight.

To combat the sliding ring, a grooved guide was added to the side of the main tube, keeping the wheel struts in alignment and clearing room for more cargo supports. The raising and lowering of the legs would be accomplished by a lever on the top of the main tube connecting via cables and pulleys inside the tube to the wheel struts. Pull the cable up and it would pull the wheels in to the frame for riding. An issue with this was locking the wheels in place and the extra complexity of the pulleys and guide wheels. The more moving parts mean the more to go wrong. I realized I was moving away from Dieter Rams 10 principles, and was making the trailer more and more complex. The more complex, the greater the possibly of a mechanical failure.

So, in this vein of simplicity with stability, I'm working on elimination of as many moving parts as possible. Goodbye cables and pulleys.

This is the latest scanned sketch I have (I know, its super rough), moving the two main support wheels to be stationary (to eliminate as much stress on a joint as possible) and moving the castored wheel to the fold down third wheel. This is the direction I'm currently moving the trailer in, presently in Rhino, with the aim to be making a physical model out of pvc pipe starting the 8th.

Thanks for reading.