Patricia Adler | ITP Blog
Flux Continuum
Flux Continuum is a mechanical system, that continuously assembles and destroys a three dimensional Möbius strip – exploring the inevitability of change.
The machine’s behaviour appears to be random, to the observer, and yet it is precisely their presence that triggers either a con- or destructive cycle to begin.
Photos of final machine:
Video:
Flux Continuum – Show [...]
Free Body Diagram
To better understand how forces and moments act on objects, I took a readily available corkscrew and identified all the forces and moments acting on it.
Below is a so called ‘Free Body Diagram’ used for this type of exercise.
Perpetual Flux – Midterm
“All is flux; nothing stays still.” Heraclitus
“Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.” Arthur Schopenhauer
The concept I am exploring with my piece, is the inevitability of change – in particular, within natural cycles. The inevitability of creation and destruction brought about by the constant state of flux.
The way I am expressing this, is with a mechanical system [...]
Inevitability – An Exploration of Change
As part of my exploration, of the inevitability of change, I have made a simple mechanical system (using LEGO) to disassemble and then reassemble a paper cube – as a continuous cycle.
Inevitability (Box) from Patricia Adler on Vimeo.
Midterm – Concepts – Part 2
Whilst I only having sketches to describe it, I now have the outline of a concrete idea for my midterm (and maybe final) project.
The concept I am looking to convey with my piece, is that of natural cycles. The inevitability of con-/and destruction brought about by their constant state of flux.
How I intend to materialise [...]
Midterm Concepts – Part 1
Although I do not yet have a completely formed idea, for my mid term project (or indeed my final), I do have a strong sense of the direction in which I would like to go.
Combining the strong, unforgiving, and accurate nature of mechanisms with the delicate, fragile, and ‘imperfect’ attributes of organic materials.
The artist Rebecca [...]
Mousetrap Car
The assignment was to make a car, powered only by a simple mousetrap. The goal is for the car to travel 10 feet.
This was a remarkably difficult task, and required us to build various iterations before getting to something that actually worked.
Below is a video of the final concept working, and taking us past the [...]
3D Modeling Software – Testing Rhino
Even though I am a trained and practicing product designer, I have always avoided using 3D modeling software. As part of my undergraduate training, I was of course taught how to use AutoCad as well 3D Studio Max – but this is over 10 years ago, and I have not used it since.
This meant that [...]
LEGO Lab – constructing a crane
Morgan and I constructed three of LEGO’s simple machines:
- The crane
- Merry go round
- Windshield wipers
It was really good fun doing these – on a Sunday afternoon – it made me feel like I was 8 all over again!
We thought it would be best to document this in a short video:
Lego Simple Machines from Patricia [...]
Mechanisms – Rube Goldberg Machine
The Assignment:
- Build a machine that cracks an egg
- Your machine should be loaded with an egg. It should be reasonably quick to reload your machine with a new egg between runs (no disassembly of the machine). Acceptable triggers to start the machine include (for example) a button press, pulling/pushing a lever, or yanking a [...]