Charlotte Bicknell


Thesis Topic: 

I can't beeeelieve I forgot about this! Thank goodness Joe reminded me.

For my artist presentation I chose to research and present information about Hiroshi Ishiguro; he designs incredible life-like and responsive robots.

 

As for my thesis topic, I choose to research and explore the theme of artificial intelligence. How it began, how it has developed, where it is currently and what it means for future generations.

 

Artist Presentation

 

Jan 30th-

 

I'm a littttlle bit behind on keeping my wiki updated and current... Well. Here goes.

 

So I'm going to try and build my project 3 dimensionally, which will be more challenging and wayyyy  more interesting than my original plans for the thing. Colleen said to work backwards, starting with the material and then going from there and that makes a lot of sense. So I have a few ideas but am definately going to continue searching for more plausible and interesting ideas. Hey if anyone has some ideas feel free to leave them here! So far:

 

-Dry Ice pellets- I certainly like these!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_ice

http://www.continentalcarbonic.com/dryice/sales.php

http://www.bocindustrialbook.co.uk/published/home/ref_3_4.htm

http://www.coldjet.com/minisites/dryiceproduction/en/how-to-make-it.html

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question264.htm

 

 

-Flammable material that will combust upon impact with a catalyst

http://www.tpub.com/content/administration/14241/css/14241_156.htm

http://www.ehs.ucsb.edu/units/labsfty/labrsc/lsflamable.htm

http://www.ehs.washington.edu/fsofire/flamfrig.shtm

http://safety.science.tamu.edu/flammables.html

Wow! Flammable materials categorized class 4 by NEPA have a boiling point of less than 100 degrees! Hmmm......

 

 

-biodegradable material encasing an evaporative material

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporation

 

-materials found in quick-freeze bags and the opposite

http://www.first-aid-product.com/industrial/instant-cold-compresses.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate

http://www.pa.msu.edu/sciencet/ask_st/031595.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_chloride

 

-hmmm... This is interesting, not sure how it applies....

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/indepth/31240

 

 

FEB 3-

 

At the foundry today I began getting some crazy yet interesting ideas that may be plausible! Or so I was told...

 

1. Fragile balls made out of un-fired ceramic that would shatter -> dissolve upon impact

 

2. Wax balls-

*Hollow; made in plaster mold

*Solid

*Wax pellets used for sealing foods; very small and easy to melt!!

http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/lanette-wax-pellets-p-615.html

http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/beeswax-beads-yellow-cosmetic-grade-refined-p-610.html?osCsid=1984ac86003070f06aa09c843c4d6a7f

http://www.soaposh.wahmall.co.uk/traderplus/prod_display.php?formaction=catdisplay&categoryID=3227

http://www.wise4living.com/artcandle/wax.htm

http://physics.ucsc.edu/lecturedemonstrations/fl_pr_ht/thermo.html

 

 

 

---Now these would work great! Upon impact, the small pellets would immeadiately begin to melt- the "sink" drain surface would in fact be an electric skillet, equipped with a drain, that would melt and dispose of the wax...

---Or, I could have the wax pellets fall into a very large glass/metal container which would maintain a slow burning flame-an oil soaked wick- and the pellets would temporarily feed the flame to make a flare up, once the pellets melted, the flame would die down again-possible audible accompanyment to a visual crescendo would be awesome!

---The pellets could simply be drops of melted wax, falling into a glass jar full of water, the drops would solidify and create interesting shapes, crescendo would be the wax pouring from the "faucet", decresendo? Hmmm....

 

I really like the wax pellet ideas, especially the candle one; simply because I could realistically see it as being a plausible project that would be done in time....however, some of the other ideas were interesting in different ways...

 

Also! I could make hollow wax balls, and inject them with alcohol-would this work?! And upon impact, they would melt, then create a small flash, and dissapear quickly. That could be a little dangerous/tricky...but I'll look into its plausibility!

 

3. Plaster?

 

FEB 5-

 

Okay so I have some ideas...

 

First off:

 

Themes...These are very important and give what could very well be a meaningless piece of material something greater that viewers that hold on to, long after they view the piece...

 

1. The piece can be about over-population and global warming...Kind of two separate yet intertwined ideas...Maybe just use one of them?

-the little wax pellets can be people, and the object they hit can be the world...thus symbolizing the life cycle... Birth, life, and death. If the piece is about overpopulation, then the objects can symbolize people piling on top of other people, and gradually the object they hit will be engulfed and unrecognizable...that could be the life aspect, then the piece could melt and symbolize death, or both can occur simulataneously!

 

Interesting ideas, my other ideas are mostly visual sketches of the mechanism I can use to actually bring this work to life! Interesting :-)

 

This machine would have a continuous flow once triggered by the handle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 These machines would use the same continuous flow mechanism, but would make noise on impact- one would utilize a snare drum, the other would use a brass cymbal...Both would make some really interesting and chaotic sounds once the flow of metal shot or BB's was increased.

This machine would deposit wax pellets onto a constantly changing and melting surface, allowing the material to be used as fuel for the oil wicks