UNIT 3 PROPOSAL
This project is a continuation from Unit 1. On the first day of term I described how I would like to create something that was kinetic, perhaps also including light, and I was so glad that the parameters of Unit 3 were broad enough to make this possible. During my 6 years studying at NIC so far this has been a germ of an idea.
In unit 1 I visited Kin Beach Park, and in the park there were several opportunities for something kinetic. In the end my final output in this unit was a short video which showed the merry-go-round and slide interacting with some orange ping pong balls. The merry-go-round in particular appealed to me as possibly the foundation for Unit 3.
WORKING TITLE – WHAT GOES AROUND…..
The first problem was how to make a merry-go-round rotate. I have a record deck but did not want to damage it making a kinetic piece, so I resorted to the internet, searching for options for machines that rotated. My first success was finding someone selling an inexpensive suitcase-type record player – which would be capable of rotating with something not to heavy onboard.
I had an idea that in addition to the merry go round rotating I might be able to incorporate some prisms and a suitable light source to project a rainbow onto a background, and also to project some of the video already obtained at kin beach. With that in mind I found a small display unit designed for showing mugs and other crafts online as a sales technique, though I am a little unsure how powerful that might be and what sort of weight it could bear. In researching this a massive barrier, which I have yet to resolve, is that a prism needs either direct sunlight or a fairly narrow beam of broad spectrum light to make a rainbow, sunlight wasn’t really an option for me, and a suitable light source is proving to be surprisingly hard to find. I have checked with the Physics department and they use lasers now for their optics experiments, which are only a narrow wavelength of light . Gordon doesn’t have anything suitable for the dark room, but I remembered seeing an exhibit that featured prisms at CVAG, and if possible Angela will enquire from the artist what she used. I thought the darkroom at NIC would be a great place to set the project up, however it can only accommodate six students at a time, but I have managed to secure the photo studio which is a pretty good alternative.
Other thoughts centre around having sound as well, a few thoughts being – playing the rather spooky fairground music interspersed with the sounds of children playing. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon could also be very appropriate, given the prism link. Maybe the orange balls from unit 1 fit in the whole concept somewhere – they have been a recurring theme for me throughout my fine art classes.
The best laid schemes of mice and men….After talking to a friend who designs satellite optics Now learn that making a light source which can effectively be split through a prism is incredibly difficult. The beam must be full spectrum and very narrow. The sun is good for that being 93 million miles away the light rays are very focussed, but recreating that is very difficult. So plan B – use light sources that are already colored….The merry-go-round itself is still fine though
Being RGB they will also create white light – the exact opposite of plan A…