So for my first project I’ve been instructed to take a small object that will be utilized in a mold I’ll be creating with plaster in a way that shows some sort of meaning as well as thought provoking ideas. And for this, I first started out with a small toy race car and had this grand idea to create a type of road or highway to place the car on to attempt to so “life is a highway” aspect. And after creating a few sketches, I learned that it’d be harder than I had planned.
Mainly due to the fact that I’ve never worked with plaster and didn’t quite
understand the physics of how it works and how fluid it really is. So
through trial and error as well as speaking with my instructors on how to create
my idea in my head, I proceeded to start creating with the materials at
hand. And throughout the initial phase, I had high hopes and aspirations that this would be epic. But as I soon found out when trying to pour plaster and create my mold, this was a potential epic failure.
Like the original plan had stated, a small car to show the “road of life” but after all the extra work and being creative with the mold, I stumbled upon a small toy Caterpillar dump truck and this was in a way, a vision to what was really going on. This was a “Work in Progress” creation. To me, it turned out rather good in the end. Even after the couple hours of shaping, smoothing and sanding it
still had an image of what I wanted to start with. But like in life, the road ahead is never finished and we’ll never see the end of it because we’ll ultimately be dead beforehand. So in all, this does in my opinion show the on-ramp of life and it not being complete.
Mainly due to the fact that I’ve never worked with plaster and didn’t quite
understand the physics of how it works and how fluid it really is. So
through trial and error as well as speaking with my instructors on how to create
my idea in my head, I proceeded to start creating with the materials at
hand. And throughout the initial phase, I had high hopes and aspirations that this would be epic. But as I soon found out when trying to pour plaster and create my mold, this was a potential epic failure.
Like the original plan had stated, a small car to show the “road of life” but after all the extra work and being creative with the mold, I stumbled upon a small toy Caterpillar dump truck and this was in a way, a vision to what was really going on. This was a “Work in Progress” creation. To me, it turned out rather good in the end. Even after the couple hours of shaping, smoothing and sanding it
still had an image of what I wanted to start with. But like in life, the road ahead is never finished and we’ll never see the end of it because we’ll ultimately be dead beforehand. So in all, this does in my opinion show the on-ramp of life and it not being complete.
Project #2 is dealing with line and for this, I’ve chosen to try to replicate my camera. And I believe that the reason I think I ended up choosing this was because of what everyone physically see’s when they look at it. In some way I just wanted to show a frame of the camera in a raw form with showing the emphasis on the lens. The lens is a highly important part of the camera and really is what makes the photo stand out. It is what’s used to compose my photo and allow me to initially set up my manipulation. Because after I take the picture, whatever could be viewed in the lens range, is what I’ll be presenting to my peers, audience and instructors.
Also by showing an empty space, I wanted the idea of that all of these high end cameras have a basic set-up. Meaning that it’s really what’s inside that makes them worth so much. But they all are built on some kind of in a way, cheap and crude framing system. I was really wanting the viewer to understand that you can spend $1000’s on camera gear and have the best equipment but still take crap photos. The camera does 10% of the work. The person behind it does majority of the work and creations.
So I decided to go a different route than most in the class would probably go. I decided to try to braze/solder majority of my piece. I was hoping for the aspect of a crude/raw piece (pun intended since the format I shoot my photos is RAW) that we all would see. There was a few spots that I did have to use glue due to I was constantly burning my fingers trying to solder the smaller spots but majority of the structure, I was able to get it to hold without gluing. In all, I was pretty satisfied with it. I would have loved to use an oxy-acetylene torch to actually melt the joints together or even use a tig/mig welder.
Also by showing an empty space, I wanted the idea of that all of these high end cameras have a basic set-up. Meaning that it’s really what’s inside that makes them worth so much. But they all are built on some kind of in a way, cheap and crude framing system. I was really wanting the viewer to understand that you can spend $1000’s on camera gear and have the best equipment but still take crap photos. The camera does 10% of the work. The person behind it does majority of the work and creations.
So I decided to go a different route than most in the class would probably go. I decided to try to braze/solder majority of my piece. I was hoping for the aspect of a crude/raw piece (pun intended since the format I shoot my photos is RAW) that we all would see. There was a few spots that I did have to use glue due to I was constantly burning my fingers trying to solder the smaller spots but majority of the structure, I was able to get it to hold without gluing. In all, I was pretty satisfied with it. I would have loved to use an oxy-acetylene torch to actually melt the joints together or even use a tig/mig welder.
So for our third project I’m utilizing foam core board,
which I’ve found to be fairly easy to work with as long as I utilize patience
and a really sharp blade. In all I
wasn’t too frustrated throughout the project.
I had to take a little walk around the art building and ones adjacent to it to get an idea of what I might like to do or how to incorporate the NIU ideals which wasn’t very easy to do. And after coming across and studying the piece outside that has the stairs incorporated into it, I decided that I’d too like to create a piece that can be sat on, walked on or at least in some way allows a person to be actively engaged in it. Thinking of all of this, I started to throw out some ideas of what can be used and the one that struck me was something that could allow a “gathering” of students/anyone. And what really got me thinking was in the movie “Forrest Gump” and how almost 90% of the story is told while Forrest is sitting on the bench, talking to strangers as they come and go. So I came up with an idea to create some kind of public bench with some sort of shelter from the rain or sun yet allow for one to still enjoy the atmosphere.
I like to think that this somehow can be used to show the ideals and mission statement of the school here at NIU. One where we can adapt to the ever changing characteristics of society. So like this bench, one sitting down can be in tune with one person, and the next be speaking with someone different. I like to think of it as a “society bench” in that although we speak different languages, we can still come together as one.
edit.
I had to take a little walk around the art building and ones adjacent to it to get an idea of what I might like to do or how to incorporate the NIU ideals which wasn’t very easy to do. And after coming across and studying the piece outside that has the stairs incorporated into it, I decided that I’d too like to create a piece that can be sat on, walked on or at least in some way allows a person to be actively engaged in it. Thinking of all of this, I started to throw out some ideas of what can be used and the one that struck me was something that could allow a “gathering” of students/anyone. And what really got me thinking was in the movie “Forrest Gump” and how almost 90% of the story is told while Forrest is sitting on the bench, talking to strangers as they come and go. So I came up with an idea to create some kind of public bench with some sort of shelter from the rain or sun yet allow for one to still enjoy the atmosphere.
I like to think that this somehow can be used to show the ideals and mission statement of the school here at NIU. One where we can adapt to the ever changing characteristics of society. So like this bench, one sitting down can be in tune with one person, and the next be speaking with someone different. I like to think of it as a “society bench” in that although we speak different languages, we can still come together as one.
edit.
For this project we were given the task of creating a
tool box but to look outside “the box” while creating one. And this time we would be using wood as our
material as well as we were given the idea of the box being used for something
we utilize to go inside of it. So being
the photographer in training, I thought that it might be something worthwhile
to use in the creation of my tool box.
Because tools are considered something that we use almost daily. And in my case I use my camera almost
daily. Tools can be used to make money
when being used, such as an automotive mechanic uses his tools to make his or
her living, they’ll store their tools in a valuable box where they’ll be ready
to be used again the next day. So
thinking outside the norm of camera storage where a bag is typically used, I
thought about why can’t I create a box for my camera gear?
There really wasn’t a problem to think about a box to create, because a box is simplistic in nature. Usually 4 corners, straight and smooth. But I wanted to come up with something a little more creative and functioning in nature. So I started to think about some of the things I do that have boxes. And I have a lot of boxes for multiple items. And what struck me most was my tackle box for my fishing gear. And the reason is that the boxes from the outside look small and unordinary. But once opened up, they contain a plethora of items. And it’s not that just a lid pops off, instead it is hinged and opens up to different levels that contain different items. So I thought maybe I could use that idea for a “tool box”.
I had the issue throughout the creation of not having any blueprints or accurate measurements to use during the construction phase. I’ve had to come up with my own sizes and dimensions. It’s been a difficult struggle throughout the entire time. Taking into consideration the trial and error in building it, I may have bit off more than I can chew. But working in the woodshop has brought back many good memories of spending time in my grandfather’s garage working on wood projects with him when I was younger. It has been 14 years this November since he’s passed and he’s greatly missed. So regardless of whether or not my box gets 100% complete or even works the way I intended it to, I managed to revive some old memories that have been stored away.
There really wasn’t a problem to think about a box to create, because a box is simplistic in nature. Usually 4 corners, straight and smooth. But I wanted to come up with something a little more creative and functioning in nature. So I started to think about some of the things I do that have boxes. And I have a lot of boxes for multiple items. And what struck me most was my tackle box for my fishing gear. And the reason is that the boxes from the outside look small and unordinary. But once opened up, they contain a plethora of items. And it’s not that just a lid pops off, instead it is hinged and opens up to different levels that contain different items. So I thought maybe I could use that idea for a “tool box”.
I had the issue throughout the creation of not having any blueprints or accurate measurements to use during the construction phase. I’ve had to come up with my own sizes and dimensions. It’s been a difficult struggle throughout the entire time. Taking into consideration the trial and error in building it, I may have bit off more than I can chew. But working in the woodshop has brought back many good memories of spending time in my grandfather’s garage working on wood projects with him when I was younger. It has been 14 years this November since he’s passed and he’s greatly missed. So regardless of whether or not my box gets 100% complete or even works the way I intended it to, I managed to revive some old memories that have been stored away.
This was by far the easiest creation this semester by
far. And I’m not sure if I did what was
supposed to be done or not, but after being given the short introduction on
some webclip on YouTube and then the generic details of the project it seemed
pretty simplistic. And I had a rather
good idea of what I was going to do before the clip was even finished. I listened to all the questions being asked
by others and the minimal responses being given back. So therefore, I think I accomplished
something.
“Because America. That’s why”. That’s my idea for this one. It’s a bird on top of being given “the bird”. I suppose you can look at it many different ways but I believe that my intention for the conceptual idea was that I’m an angry American and I’m outspoken. I believe in my own ideals and thoughts and for those who argue against them, they can take it and shove it. “The one finger salute” as it’s sometimes called, especially in the military. We gave the one finger salute to Osama bin Laden for what happened on September 11th 2001. And now we’re giving it to ISIS as we drop tons of munitions on their countries where they’re located. Delivering democracy one package at a time. And with the eagle, it’s representative of our country as it’s looked upon as a symbol of freedom. Ironically as I’m writing this, I cannot help but get a chuckle out of the democratic b.s. that I feel like I’m spewing all over the place. But regardless, one can’t help but perhaps get a little offended when someone flips you off in life. But top it off with an eagle on top, and it says one thing. “America, fuck yeah”.
“Because America. That’s why”. That’s my idea for this one. It’s a bird on top of being given “the bird”. I suppose you can look at it many different ways but I believe that my intention for the conceptual idea was that I’m an angry American and I’m outspoken. I believe in my own ideals and thoughts and for those who argue against them, they can take it and shove it. “The one finger salute” as it’s sometimes called, especially in the military. We gave the one finger salute to Osama bin Laden for what happened on September 11th 2001. And now we’re giving it to ISIS as we drop tons of munitions on their countries where they’re located. Delivering democracy one package at a time. And with the eagle, it’s representative of our country as it’s looked upon as a symbol of freedom. Ironically as I’m writing this, I cannot help but get a chuckle out of the democratic b.s. that I feel like I’m spewing all over the place. But regardless, one can’t help but perhaps get a little offended when someone flips you off in life. But top it off with an eagle on top, and it says one thing. “America, fuck yeah”.