Category: Works in Progress/Proposals

The cumulonimbus cloud is not only a beautiful and destructive lightning cloud but also has one of the coolest sounding names of all the cloud formations.

After the events of the Superstorm these past few days I have been thinking a lot about my project for making. I cam to the conclusion that while a full scale plush version could be cool it lacked justification and reasoning. So back to more brainstorming, but this time with more of a designers intent. I believe a nightlight should provide comfort and reassurance while the user begins to fall asleep. Strangely lightning storms have always had this effect on me. For those who find lightning terrifying perhaps this can be used to help overcome their fears.

The sewing component would be the arduino casing and the main structure of the cloud. The electronics component would be arduino controlled lightning flashes using LED’s & EL wire with the option of sound effects using the Arduino Wave shield. Comments on this new direction welcome and appreciated.

Quarantined to my apartment the last couple of days due to the hurricane, has got me thinking about this plush project. My original idea that I posted was a tabletop portable night light made of felt. I really liked Richard’s post about a plush speaker. I am leaning more towards a bluetooth light up speaker. It would be wireless so you could throw it around the room. I ordered this speaker on Amazon that I’ll be using.

How ’bout this storm?  How ’bout another day without studio?  How ’bout I’m never gonna get all this work done.  Trouble…  It’s trouble.

FYI I’ve begun work on a chandelier concept.  Had been struggling to mock up anything great, so I went back to google image search for further inspiration.

I decided to revisit some of my favorite sculptors –

Roman Signer for Kvadrat – Roman Signer blows stuff up.  It’s beautiful.  His project for the textile manufacturer, Kvadrat, involved lengths of fabric.  And a few rockets.

An Te Liu’s Style and Epoch.  Diggin’ the use of wood through seemingly arbitrary connections.

Here’s where I’m at now, the plan is to create several of the units below, and wrap in a somewhat elastic fiber.  Love the white of these LED strips, but am looking for something a bit warmer…

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I would like to embark on an over ambitious mission to build an enclosed sitting area for children which is inspired by geology and magic. The outside will be made of wood and painted grey while the inside will be cushions and pillows which resemble crystals and light up. Below you will find inspiration and materials which I would like to explore, along with what I would like to use to power the glow.  The sketch model below will be captured in 123D catch and then tightened up to have printed and assembled.  Depending on how costly and time consuming this becomes I may have to scale it down to smaller models.

Materials: wood, fabric, EL Panels, EL wire, Inverters.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how the el panels and wire could enhance the luminescence of this fabric?  Below is a photo two friends of mine collaborated on. Heidi Lee makes incredible hats!! Andrew Strassar takes photographs which are amazing eye candy!

 

Glowing Geods!

 

 

 

Ab Rogers 2004, Kenny Schachter

Pods from another planet landed in a victorian house in Chelsea

 

Below are 2 views of a sketch model which will be 3d scanned and blown up to a larger scale.  Throughout this process i am interested to see what details survive.

 

 

Brighter than a lucky penny

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Fabric and light together automatically makes me think of wearable technology, but since I had already worked on a light-up shirt for my first project, I wanted to do something different.

My first idea was around light and sound – a tambourine that lights up when you shake it. The inspiration from this one came from a dance I watched which takes place in a dark setting and only when the dancers move, their clothes light up. I thought of a tambourine as a dance prop.

 

My other idea was around making a backdrop, or wallpaper that could be used in a room, or ceiling. But finally, I decided that I will create some curtains that light up as it becomes dark outside.

 

Next steps:
– Design the curtain (color, fabric, paint/embroidery?)
– Code arduino for the light sensor.

For my night light I plan on making a plush frying pan and two strips of bacon. When the bacon is placed on the frying pan, they will flicker with light to imitate sizzling. I am not quite sure how to do this yet but will explore solutions.

 

Here is a page of ideation sketches I did for the plush nightlight project. I am doing something like the circled sketch. It will be fabricated from felt panels. The bottom will not be sewn together & when spread apart to create a stand, the EL panel will illuminate.

Hey yinz,

The form for my plush nightlight project is inspired by my favorite piece of land sculpture, Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty .

I love Robert Smithson’s work – he’s the real artist’s artist (he can write, draw, sculpt, etc). Not only is his work informed by the context of the site, but each piece is dictated by months of research, observation and documentation. His essay about Spiral Jetty is one of the most interesting and genuine things that I’ve read by any visual artist…

Anyway… enough compliments, this post is about me, me, me!

This sketch shows how I feel about Ugz, our favorite floppy, plush boot. Ah, kind of a one-liner, I’m not so into this idea.

Here I’m onto something – the Spiral Jetty Wallet! What if I make a five-foot long wallet that rolls up like a sleeping bag and LEDs illuminate when credit cards are inserted into the pockets?

I don’t really no the answer, but Im going to try it.

I really liked the simplicity of Hobo lantern that I posted earlier and the heartfelt lantern made for Japan.  The idea that the lantern can light up people’s mood appeal to me.  I want to make a bunny lantern that can function as an arm warmer.  The elliptical holes enable this piece to hang from wall to act as a night light, but the shape is such that you can wear it on your arm.  There will be a bunny face on the palm side.  I thought of this idea while running at the crack of dawn where I really need to pay attention to my surroundings.  I didn’t happen to wear anything reflective and since I lost my arm warmers at the last year’s NYC marathon, I thought it would be a good idea to make one for myself.