Class Activity [Feb. 24, 25]:
Use simple motors (provided) to make moving artworks. Bring materials to attach to the motors.
Art from Scrap is a great place to get large quantities of random materials cheep. And if you want bring battery-driven moving toys,fans etc. and other moving objects to play with.
The students can work together or individually.
Project [Due March 5, 6]
Make a Kinetic/Robotic Artwork: Make an artwork using hobby motors and/or "found" moving electronic (battery operated) objects such as toys, fans etc and attach them to each other and to various materials. (Hobby motors will be provided in section,
For "found" moving objects look in thrift stores). The way you attach them to each other should generate an interesting movement when turned on. Think about how gravity, friction and other natural laws help produce movement. The story/thought/emotion should primarily be told through movement (through the visuals and sounds the movement produce). Simple patterns of movements can be interpreted as expressions of emotions and intention.
Or you can make the robot draw/paint by attaching pens etc. You can build on what you started in the class activity.
OR make a 'Device' Artwork:Design a device that is intended to be mass-produced and commercially available in places other than art museums. Or modify an existing device. Your device should do one or more of the following:
A, Add a layer of fiction to the device.
B, Expand the functionality of the device in ways that are poetic/political/critical etc.
C, Turn the device into a new device that perform a function that is not currently performed by any existing device and you don't believe will ever be performed by any other device in the future. (I.e. an obscure function that maybe solves a problem that is very personal to you, and that you don't imagine anyone else having.)
D, Contradict the normal functionality of the device in a funny/smart/poetic way.
Make (a model of) the device in a suitable material: modeling clay/wood/paper/foam blocks (check a hobby store for ideas on model materials). In the documentation, describe in what type of store your product would be sold, i.e how it would be contextualized. The object does not need to actually function but it should seem/look like it is functioning.
The project should be documented on a web page, including a description and some kind of visual documentation.
The texts below can be used for inspiration.
Links
instructables.com
Make Magazine