My Journey of Making “Mr. Tin Cat’s Eyes”
Inspiration
Taxonomy of signifiers and context, such as Fairytales, zodiac prediction, Magic, Ying Yang, dream and so on, led me to the idea of “fantasy”
Seminar Influence
Diptychs that helped me brainstorm
Idea formation
Sketch
Prototype
Material Collecting: Colored acrylic + recycled old clothe + Reflective plastic
Making Process
1. laser cut the acrylic
2. Use a real pair of glasses as the model
3. Cut my hand shape four times, and stitch two of them together with red string.
4. Attaches the reflective plastic with the acrylic, and test our the size for a glasses.
5. Sew buttons on, test it on different people to make sure it fits all head shape
6. Attaches wire into the clothes, and sew two sides together to create an angle
7. Connect the acrylic with the glass structure, and attaches the other parts
8. Create packaging for this “fake product”.
DONE!
Final result ( details)
What you see through Mr. Tin Cat’s Eyes
Presentation
Reflection
One lesson that learned and impressed by Seminar and Studio class is how a small idea developed into a product and a research paper by continuous improvement and self-reflection. I found this process really personal because it is basically a self- criticism. I am pleased by the final result and loved to use the same method on my future development. I am also interested in how seminar and studio work together to improve me on a particular topic, I am sad that there will be no pairing class like “seminar and studio” for my sophomore year. This pairing class helps me develop both on the skills and on the knowledge at the same time. This type of learning method challenges me to balance between my knowledge and skill part and make sure the research always back up the product and the product conveys the idea in the research.
What I learned
One unforgettable method for visual research is outdoor exploration. It includes going to museums but mainly is about public observation, people’s behavior, things on the street, a discovery. These are a big source of idea because it’s changeable and always inspirational.
Another one is to search for new artists. Bryan’s idea of the artist research site really gives me a lot of inspiration, but visually looking at the featuring photos tells how much different possible media I can do my product with, how many different styles and textures it can have.
Relooking into my final project
I think I am generally very satisfied with my final product, except for the steadiness of it being a product. I should consider more methods to joints the parts instead of just using the glue, even using just glue, I should consider which particular glue for specific media. I should research more on how the actual product is produced. Another problem is my final presentation because I ran out of time to make a PPT, but I used performing instead to catch audiences’ attention. Something I learned from this is Time Management, I will definitely put more effort into how to plan a long-term project to avoid failed last presentation. If I have more time, I would definitely love to explore the sound media that I didn’t get a chance to. Maybe in the Future!!
