My micro culture was Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, New York.
While I live near this micro culture, I felt that I was far removed enough to look at it holistically, rather than just a place I’d been to before.
When I went around on my walk of the neighborhood, I noticed a few things, such as for the most part it was ethnically homogenous. There were a few Korean and Chinese establishments, but a majority of the area is dominated by older, Italian families. I also noticed that what few people there were out on the street communicated with each other comfortably, which led me to believe that the people there are very interconnected and interpersonal in the community. This gave me the feeling of everything being interwoven, sort of like an intricate machine that is rigid or rather a mold of sorts.
That gave me the idea for a metal glove, of which is woven, stiff and particularly a sort of molding of the hands.
However when I initially wove it around my hands, it caused a lot of pain and redness (also became impossible to take off) so I had to stop. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take a picture of it.
The prototype that began working with was a model of the glove into a hand shaped piece of cardboard. I wove the wire through the little holes in the corrugated part of the cardboard. Then, I stabilized it by weaving tiny wire around it and then twisting it tightly.
Second Attempt
It worked well enough until the commute from home and back began wearing thin at the cardboard so I had to reinforce it with twine and more cardboard. It was wearable, so I continued.
Finished Product
