For my project, I wanted to use collapsible mechanical connections to create wings. I wanted to make these, because when I think of feeling connected to someone I think of myself feeling comfortable enough to reach out to them and be more extraverted. When I feel disconnected to someone, I tend to be extremely introverted and stick to myself. I combined the fan and sliding parts for my project. In my earlier sketches, the fan was a lot smaller, with more sliding pieces, but when creating the bristol and chipboard model I realized that it needed more support, so I decided to expand the fan to the length of the arm and have the sliding pieces fall off of each fan piece.
I decided to use thin plywood because I felt that it would be the strongest. I went outside of my comfort zone in using the school’s laser cutter facility. Usually, I tend to stick to what I’m most comfortable with so this was a step for me. I was extremely happy with my experience there. Everyone was very helpful and I learned that it was not at all as scary as I thought it would be. Using the laser cutter on the wood, I really loved the finish it gave, burning the edges. Once I put the wings together with binding posts it seemed to go very smoothly. I really liked how they turned out. But, I have problems with attaching them to the body. At first, I just used thin velcro strips, but learned too late that it didn’t work well. I have to go back and figure out an alternative solution.
Overall, this is really just a prototype for another version of this project. Since using the laser cutter and creating this, I have used similar collapsible systems for other classes and plan on incorporating things I’ve learned in this class with my studio final.
One major thing I learned about myself and my own process is that usually when I face a big problem or become very frustrated is when I find the best idea that I am most excited about. This happens in almost all of my classes in terms of design and writing. Usually at the point of my strongest frustration is when I start to think deeper about what I actually want to do and am excited by. I also learned that instead of avoiding things I am unsure about, it is best to dive in completely and be open to exploring the unknown in resources and materials.
