final degree

here are the finals:

final booklets:

week 14: the end

View first draft of presentation here:

This week I've been finalizing the designs and printing out and reprinting out 3D parts. It's been a pain to wait for these things to all finish, but it's getting there.

I've also been working on these booklets for Emmy:


And have been figuring out what to apply to each of the machines, and have been spray painting them.

week 13: last stretch

APRIL 18–22

It's a week before the final, and I'm scrambling a bit...
But I've solidified the AT machine and the ON machine, but the IN machine needs some work. It's getting there!







You can see the intense planning this requires below...



Prototype I made in my digital fabrication class...that failed. Oh well! Still good experience.



Next I have to spray paint the edges and work on the machine booklets, where you can see some drafts below:

week 12

APRIL 11–15



Above of a video draft of what I may do to show process. You can see the 3D prints as well as some of the parts for AT and ON. All the pieces are cut on the CNC, except for some pieces for the IN machine for 3d parts.

week 11

APRIL 4–8

This week has been mostly CNC routing and 3D Printing parts for the machines. It's been tough trying to schedule times to use it, because of my internship at Populous. Things are getting a bit crazier in terms of time and having to finish things before 5pm. Anyhow, I have all the AT prints cut out and planned out:



I've just started assembly...next is printing stuff for the ON machine!

week 10

MARCH 28–APRIL 1

Drafts for the machines are complete. See below images for each:

This is for the AT machine. It will be flexible two ways, where there will be two cranks. While the pen tool goes up and down to make scattered dotted lines, the drawing table will also turn.


This is for the ON machine. It's not as flushed out, but I have a general idea of what it will do. Since ON requires two surfaces, this machine will not be flat like the AT machine, but will have two planes. The drawing tool in the middle will be able to turn in two directions while the sheet of paper can also move and be pulled out.

Last but not least the IN machine. This one is a little more vague, however I think the three pens will go inside the cylindrical shape where it will draw inside the circle. 

I've also started to 3D print some parts, and have talked to Evin about the designs. He suggests that I use Inkscape for the gears and to look up some gear generators online.

week 9

MARCH 21–25

Since last week I was able to solidify my question, this week I've started to draw out plans for what that thing I'm making might be. I began to draw up some sketches, and have been looking for inspiration on how to visualize the relationship between language, space and time. The three prepositions I will be focusing on are: AT, ON, IN because these three are interchangeably used spatially and temporally.



I'm thinking of putting three different posters behind the machines to anchor them to each preposition. I also found these images by Ken Cox, where he seems to be doing something similar to me, but with different intentions:

sx: senior show

Preflight by mlim5036

week 7: midterm presentation

MARCH 7–11

It's been a slow start, and I've only just begun to solidify my question. Though I value the process of narrowing down the idea, this issue of not being able to pinpoint what I want persists in my work. I blame it mostly on the immense pressure I feel when I think about my degree project, making me feel like every idea I have is inadequate. On a more positive note, I finally have something I'm excited about and can stay excited about for the whole semester. From meshing two-dimensional and three-dimensional, to children's books, to language and space, some elements from each step carried over. So it wasn't all a waste! Overall, what keeps me going is the anticipation of other people's projects. I'm excited to see what everyone will do. Some things I need to do onward is trying to make up for lost time. I am a bit behind, but with some perseverance I'll get back into place.

At this point, I've been prototyping and learning about new tools I could use for my degree project. Since I don't know much about gears and mechanisms, I'm trying to learn how to make the gears function and do what I want them to do. I also went to the Fab Lab with Haas, and we learned how to laser cut. 

I realized that there's an obvious but somewhat abstract relationship between time and space: its roundness. The world is round, therefore all space we inhabit is round. And, time is measured on a clock.

My question has been updated to:

"how can I translate letterforms into space and motion using interactive, moving mechanisms to demonstrate how language affects and forms the way we understand space?"

week 6: prototyping

FEBRUARY 29–MARCH 4

Found this awesome website, robives.com, to experiment/learn about gears. I followed some of his tutorials and came up with some mini prototypes for what my final product may look like/may include:

I also went asked Jo Kamm to teach me how to use the laser cutter. On Saturday, I went over to the Metropolitan Community College's tech lab to use their laser printer.

Something I experimented with:

After assembly:

week 3&4: summary

sx: senior show moodboards

week 5: gears and connectors

FEBRUARY 22–26

language & space

I heard a podcast more than a year ago about the impact of words on the way we think. This actually also involves different cultural differences due to language. But I want to focus on the English language and solely its formal components (as opposed to cultural). I contemplated whether or not I should explore the differences between Korean and English, but I decided against it as I'm not fluent in Korean.

Ever since I stumbled upon this image, I couldn't shake it off my mind.

There's something about gears and "perpetual" motion (there's actually no such thing as perpetual motion because energy is always lost because of the first or second law of thermodynamics) that I really love. I was especially inspired by something I learned in my Digital Fabrication class. Jo Kamm, the instructor, showed us monograph.io, a website where people share the things they make. I was drawn to this project:

where students programmed a machine mostly made of cardboard to move chess pieces using magnets. I loved how they repurposed cardboard and utilized cheap materials. 

week 4: final idea

FEBRUARY 15–19

Creating experiences that are exclusive and only for the wealthy does not sit well with me, which is why I cannot get myself to create things that involve expensive equipment and materials. There is something very superficial and empty about fabricating environments that only feed certain types of behavior that only indulge the senses and over-stimulate the viewer (crazy, flashing LED lights, interactive screens, flying robots, etc. etc). Not to say that I'm against technology. Tech is cool and I'm all for it! But I'm against using technology to indulge and oversaturate. I saw a video somewhere of a woman dancing in a cube, with interactive lights surrounding her to emphasize her movements. While the digital element was visually striking, it was also overpowering. Why can't we just appreciate the movements of the dancer herself, and leave it open to interpretation for the viewer to imagine the context/emotion of the dance? I thought it excessive and somehow manipulative. Another element I wanted my concept to take into account is how it "adds to the conversation" (as Frank would put it). It's important to me that my project is progressive, not regressive. I want to explore new arena.

It's been a long struggle, but I've finally settled on an idea (for sure this time).

Some notes from my research:

"What" and "Where" in Spatial Language and Spatial Cognition by Barbara Landau

-our ability to express spatial experience through language sets humans apart from other animals

-our ability to use representations to express space - talk about what things are and where they're located

-how language draws on our spatial representations such that we can manage to talk about what we perceive

-whatever we can talk about we can also represent (visually?)

-spatial language relates to time*** (also status, possession, social organization)

-spatial representation involves vision, audition, and touch (all senses)

-count nouns (what) endless amount, prepositions (where) limited

-shape bias

-any spatial distinctions must be able to be talked about, correspond with spatial representation. it's necessary in order to talk about it - there is nothing that cannot be represented spatially by language (ideally)

-understanding our representations of space requires invoking mental elements corresponding to places and paths, where places are generally understood as regions often occupied by landmarks or reference objects. Objects (including oneself) are then located in these places. Paths are the routes along which one travels to get from place to place.

-standard linguistic representation of an object's place requires three elements: the object to be located (figure), the reference object (ground), and their relationship. 

-figure and ground = noun phrases

-relationship = spatial preposition (defines a region in which figure object is located.)

-about 80-100 prepositions (overlapping meaning,) vs. 10,000+ nouns

-every spatial relation = 100 object names

-factors involved in defining spatial relations: 

---asymmetry between figure and reference objects (basic parameters for spatial relations)

---geometric possibilities for three elements: reference object, figure object, region based on the reference object

=asymmetry between figure and reference

--R (a,b) / spatial relation = objects related

--"the table is under the book" --> wrong, because size

--linguistic asymmetry follows principles of spatial organization (requires one object to be anchored relative to some other object)

--reference objects: large, stable, distinctive

--organization of language = organization of spatial cognition**

--distance: reference objects are critical anchors in structuring cognitive maps

----people judged the distance of a poor reference object to a good one as SHORTER than the reverse***

------ex. the lamppost to the nerm vs. the nerm to the lamppost

--people were quicker/more accurate when asked "make it so the (moving) block is on top of the (fixed) block." vs. "make is so that the (fixed) block is on top of the (moving) block."

--viewed as not possible: "make it so the house is near the bicycle" because fixed object could not be moved

*constraints of geometry of figure and reference object

-how system of spatial relations expressed in language makes use of the shapes of the objects being related.

-no prepositions that must be analyzed in terms of a particular geon (2d/3d shape: cone, cube, ...)

-two separate regions for what/where distinction in the brain (but converge at certain points)

-the unimportance of the third dimension in the mental representation of objects

ex. clock and orange are both round (third dimension is not of prime importance in linguistic descriptions)

terms used to describe spatial qualities of objects are those that are, strictly speaking, applicable to flat objects.

-The striking differences in the way language encodes objects verses place leads us to suggest two explanations: First, there is a tendency for languages to level out geometric detail from both object and place representations. Second, a nonlinguistic disparity between the representations of "what" and "where" underlies how language represents objects and places. The language of objects and places converges with and enriches our understanding of corresponding spatial representations.

Language and Spatial Cognition by Annette Herskovits

"Language and spatial cognition: an interdisciplinary study of the prepositions in english" - anette

-"In fact, the spatial domain remains incomprehensible when looked at in this way. Careful examination of a range of locative sentences reveals that the spatial objects related often do not actually exist in the world, but are mental constructions - beyond and above that first mental construction produced by perception. Even objecthood is not an unalterable given."

-dynamic prepositions (to, from, via)

-static prepositions (in, under, on)

-three basic topological prepositions: at on in

projective prepositions: derived from the experience of viewing: in front of, behind, to the right

-ideal meaning of preposition (geometric) point, line, surface

week 3: children's books?

FEBRUARY 8–12

the sum of a week
This Monday after giving our week 1&2 summary presentation, I think I figured out what I want to do...maybe? I talked with Debbie Pettid and got some insight on how I should approach children's books. I came up with a list of books I could delve into (children's book authors who have previously been designers):

• Paul Rand
• Ann Rand
• Antonio Frasconi
• Roger Duvoisin
• Leo Lionni
• Miroslav Sasek
• Louise Fatio
• Andre Francois
• John Symonds
• Brian Wildsmith
• Charles Keeping
• Raymond Briggs
• John Burningham
• Ezra Jack Keats
• Judith Kerr
• Miroslav Sasek
• Maurice Sendak
• Tomi Ungerer

Some books I have to look into:

• Cummin’s Children’s Book Illustration and Design Vol.2
• Evans, J. What’s in the Picture? Responding to Illustrations in Picture Books
• Lacy, L.E. Art and Design in Children’s Picture Books
• Nodelman’s Words About Pictures
• Schwarcz, J.H. Ways of the Illustrator: Visual Communication in Children’s Literature
• Wintle, J. and Fisher, E. The Pied Pipers: Interview with the Influential Creators of Children’s Literature
• Kress, G. and Van Leeuwen, T. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design
• Bland D. A History of Book Illustration: The Illuminated Manuscript and the Printed Book

After talking with Debbie, I realized how wide of a scope of books I chose. There are tons of children's books from the 50s–60s, especially a lot of the classics, like Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. Debbie suggested that I look into censorship, and how publishers are starting to take out cigarettes from children's books. Her issue with that is how they're trying to change history, and alter what actually happened/what the time period was actually like. She also mentioned how graphic designers started to use the medium/platform of children's books because it allowed them to do whatever they wanted within a structure. Children's books are usually between 32-48 pages, never more than that, and have a set format. What's interesting is that this structure made these designers from the 50-60s feel like children's books was unexplored, rich terrain.

 

weeks 1&2: summary

week 2: 3d printing is...

cooool it's cool

FEBRUARY 1–5

a week in a paragraph
Still currently lost at the moment, but less lost than last week. I've mostly been researching about museum environmental design and interactive design. My 3D printing class has been informing what I want to do and what's possible, and I talked with Steve Whitacre about my idea. Whitacre reminded me of the importance of considering the viewer/audience so that the artist and viewer meet in the middle. I think I've come to a narrower question, which is still a bit hazy at the moment: My objective is to inform about the visual language of 1960s art through the medium of dimensional space. 

3d printing
We've started to make 3D forms in TinkerCAD and I just finished my first 3d print. It's not completely fool-proof though, and has some limitations you have to put into consideration before printing. Things can't be floating in mid-air, and there has to be supports for parts that jut out or are not supported by something underneath.



museum experience design
After talking with Kelly a little more about narrowing down my degree project question, I started researching into museum experience design.

This gave me the idea to create something interactive using multiples of something
...Maybe through using the CNC router

City Museum

visual language of the 60s
Steve Whitacre has a background in architecture and sculpture, so I thought he would have insight on what I want to do. He brought up important points about experiential design and how user-centered it is. This sounds obvious, but architecture should 100% cater to people in the space. When I showed him photographs of the City Museum, he first responded by saying it looked dangerous. He emphasized the importance of making the viewer feel safe, meeting them to where they are, and fulfilling their needs/wants when going to the space. He asked me to consider whether or not I would be approaching people in an environment where they expect a certain type of experience, or whether the piece would be subtle and stumbled upon, relying on the "glance." When I told him that I was interested in 1960s art history, he gave me the idea of researching the visual language of the 60s and visualizing that through space and graphics.

week 1: slow but exciting start

JANUARY 25–29

to sum it all up
This week has mostly been about narrowing down my idea and finding what I'm most excited about. As I have been stuck for the past few weeks, I needed to get excited about design again. After talking with JC Franco, a recent grad from KCAI, I began to consider doing my degree project for social good and starting a collaboration. After doing some research, and delving into Kotz' Words To Be Looked At: Language in 1960's Art, I decided on exploring the intertwining relationship of language, space, and sound.

glance into sketchbook

question holes
My original degree project question was: "How can I use design and technology to visualize the paradox of flat but dimensional in order to visualize the relationship between graphic design and architecture?" I knew I wanted to merge art history, space, and motion into the project because these are three things that have consistently come up in my work, but I did not know how or in what way I could do so. There were also a couple of things that were problematic about the question: it was too broad, there is not much of a tension between architecture and design because the differences are clear (apart from spatial design), and the paradox of flat and dimensional has been thoroughly explored and widely known.

a possible collaboration
With these things in mind, I researched about type and its relationship to space. Before going back home to Chicago, I talked with JC Franco (Tori Wheeler referred me to him because many of our design objectives align). He is in a group, which he and other people created, to bring together creatives with the intent of helping Kansas City using art and space. Some examples he cited was The Boston Big Dig and Klyde Warren Park. Both were simple solutions to a complex issue that could unify specific communities within the two cities. My degree project may turn into a possible collaboration later on.

JC Franco's work can be found here:
jcfranco.com

researching and experimenting
Over the break, I felt very stuck, as the pressure for a good idea was paramount. As I started out very general, I sought to narrow down my idea over the break. The problem was I did not feel excited about any of the ideas I was coming up with. I then remembered my Art of the 60's Seminar class where a reading briefly mentioned Dan Graham. Originally a poet and then a fine artist, Graham thought of the magazine page as a gallery space, or a piece of artwork in of itself. In describing the work, the author called the magazine spread a metaphorical "architectural container" for Graham.

Dan Graham's magazine spread from "Homes for America"

I realized, then, that the translation and relationship between language and space intrigued me. I began to read excerpts of Words To Be Looked At: Language in 1960s Art by Liz Kotz. She reveals how some artists unintentionally used text to inform their actual works, showing a clear relationship between the two. While language can be referential, it at the same time is limited as a mode of communication. Language “structurally entails certain gaps, between “word” and “thing,” between “meaning” and “intention,” that cannot be eliminated in even the most precise communicative act…” (188). Kotz points this out in her book, highlighting the ability of language to paradoxically both refer to something and yet remain objective, and how artists used this to their advantage. Particularly telling was Andre’s referral to words as particles and as poems in of themselves. The way Andre views his poems as the remains of what was removed, as “cuts,” undeniably points to his sculpture practice. Kotz clearly demonstrates too, how Acconci’s poems “performed actions resembling the quintessential procedures of postminimal sculpture: cutting, moving, removing, interrupting, joining, separating…” I realized that graphic design is directly related to this, since design often involves type. 

Acconci's This Word

Kotz wrote also about the relationship between language and sound. Fluxus artists would often hold "concerts," where the artist' instructions to the musicians acted as a musical score for the performers on stage. An example of this would be John Cage's 4'33". Musicians were instructed not to play their instruments, and simply let the sounds of the environment take over.

John Cage's 4'33" music score

more research–ING
This led me to edit my art history-space-motion triangle to language-space-sound. Martin Venezky was particularly excited about Ashton and my –ING platform project from MX, and suggested we explore how sound is and can be visualized. Taking this into consideration, I want to explore not only this relationship but also how sound can create space. Over break, I listened to a quick 3D Audiobook, and realized how the volume of the sound, and varying the sound from the left ear to the right ear can create a sense of space for the listener.

This led me to wonder about the language, space, and sound triad interaction, which leads me to my finalized question:

How can I create a new spatial experience where language, space and sound all intersect?

(I am currently thinking about doing this for social good for Kansas City.)

interesting spaces

steps forward
I need to rapidly start gathering information about the relationship between language, space and sound and start experimenting. This will involve interviewing professionals in all those fields: other designers, architects, and...a musician? Maybe a radio talkshow host. Knowledge about 3D Audio is also necessary.