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EMPATHIZE

What are the project's parameters and constraints? The character must be able to:  

1) stand on its own; 2) Have a specific details that make this character unique, or stand alone; and 3) Incorporate asymmetry within the design.

 

Material list:

• 1 pair of needle nose pliers

• 1 pair of split leather work gloves (Home Depot, Lowes)

• 1 50 question character sheet

• Misc. Gauge Galvanized Steel Wire

• Safety Glasses (3M Clear Frame with Clear Scratch Resistant Lenses Indoor

Safety Eyewear or equivalent can be found at Home Depot or Lowes)

• Paper

• Masking tape

 

DEFINE

The character I developed is named Rusty. He is an underachiever with little ambitions. Sketches were created to portray his daily activity during various points of his life. The actions sketched are those that are close to the ground to ensure the structure maintains its balance and stability.

 

IDEATE

Sketches were narrowed down to four to choose among. Each containing actions close to the ground to create a stable base; portraying a stage of Rusty’s life and development.

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4 Stages of Rusty’s Life:

• The Sperm ~ Birth

• The Smoker ~ Teen Years

• The Drunk ~ Adult Years*  *the chosen design for this project*

• The Heart Attack ~ Death

 

PROTOTYPE

12 gage wire was used to construct the skeletal frame that the sculpture would be built upon. I used wire cutters to clip off various lengths of 14 gage, 16 gage, and 18 gage wire to wrap around the skeletal base. This was used to create volume and strengthen the stability of the sculpture as well as build up a physical likeness similar to the human form. Building volume using wire requires the use of shapes to create solid joints and structures as a base for more wire to be added upon in layers. Shapes included in my structure:

• Triangles ~ for the arms and legs to add wire to and layer upon

• Circles ~ the wire was added by spiraling the wire around the base skeletal structure, creating circles that produced volume and shape definition

• Ovals ~ the head was created by combining two oval loops at the end of the wires that created the arms and legs. By having two oval loops helped create a solid skeletal base for more wire to be attached to and wrapped around to build up volume for the sculpture’s head.

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FEEDBACK

 

Self-Reflection:

 

Successes

The asymmetrical wire sculpture representation of Rusty, The Drunk, maintained its balance. Due to the action being close to the ground, the sculpture was able to stand on its own.  The structure also did not collapse when force was applied to it and maintained its stability.

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Room for Improvements

Due to the larger gage of wire that was used to create the stability the sculpture needed and due to the limited amount of wire left available, the weight of the wire sculpture was a bit more than expected. Although this did help with stability, it also prevented me from being able to build up extra volume where needed due to the adding of extra weight along with it.