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Neither a Square Nor a Circle

Wenjing Liu

A musical instrument to explore the tensions between clear definition and ambiguity, and express the emotion of struggling within them.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VcZYd_AKhIf5HJ1ahR9icJHxHbiEBcyKo69KaqWTKSY/edit?usp=sharing

Description

“沒有規矩，不成方圓” is an ancient folk-say in Chinese, meaning that you cannot create a square and circle without using the ruler and compass. People usually use this quote to indicate that you cannot accomplish certain things without norms or standards.

Square and circle is a very specific definition of a shape. There is no space of ambiguity when they are referred to. To recreate these shapes, we, without practice, need to use tools or processes.
It seems to be our instinct to define, classify, disambiguate and interpret. Other than square and circle, there are many other things that are clearly defined by human, which are believed to be the “correct” or “normal” to pursue and follow — definitions of a happy life, good wife/mother, success, purpose…
I have started wondering more and more: why making a circle or square at all? Isn’t the ambiguity and the in-between state seems more natural in our lives? Isn’t the uncertainty a source of creativity?
Hence, I want to make a musical instrument to express the idea of the dynamic tension between definition and ambiguity in life, and my emotion when struggling with them.

Classes

Designing for Digital Fabrication

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Athena's Lament

Stefan Skripak

“Athena's Lament” is a light art sculpture that critiques the continually defended colonialist art collections of major western museums by visualizing the way in which an art objects aura leeches from it while being forcibly kept from its country of origin.

https://youtu.be/pFsV8myTbCQ

Description

This piece is a 15x15in wall-mounted replica of a section of the frieze from the upper section of the Parthenon building in Athens Greece. It is currently being held in the British Museum collection despite the dubious means of its acquisition and continued requests by the Greek government for its return. The model file itself was made available by the British Museum, but with certain restrictions. By taking this model and then algorithmically glitching it, I have attempted to represent the way in which this object’s captivity (both physically and within the British Museum’s digital oversight) has corrupted it and allowed the incredible works aura and spirit to leech out. The glitch pattern comes specifically from clusters of 3D pixels which each represent the passing of one week since the object was first removed from Greece in 1812. To further represent the soul of this work and its significance to Greek history and culture, the light emanating from the glitched cracks is generated by a low-resolution video of the Greek landscape.

Classes

Designing for Digital Fabrication, Light as a Medium of Art: Ways of Seeing Now

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Behind a Tomb

Nianqi Zhang, Tianyi Xie

An interactive sculptural tomb that explores the philosophy of death.

https://

Description

An interactive sculptural tomb that explores the philosophy of death.

We usually look at the front of a tomb and ignore its back. To discuss the meaning of death to the dead and people alive, we are designing a tomb that has an interactive backside where ferrofluid is moving constantly according to time and the number of people that are visiting the tomb.

The project is fabricated with CNC, laser cutter and driven by stepper motors.

Classes

Designing for Digital Fabrication

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Smart Container

Rui Wang

A serial of DIY normalized containers with different functions.

https://jasperwang.org/digital-fabrication/container/

Description

A serial of normalized containers with different functions.

You can raise your flower with soil; you can raise a green plant with water only; you make a home for small cute fish; you can also build a nest for your spider.

The embedded sensor will detect the moisture content of the soil, it will alarm you when it gets thirsty. Also, you can customize different thresholds for different plants.

You can also connect a lot of containers together easily using the magnetic socket, which means you can design your own ecosystem.

Make your own secret garden, make your own secret stories.

Classes

Designing for Digital Fabrication, Prototyping Electronic Devices