Mini-Golf; Casino

We developed our idea on using gravity for a mechanical device and controlling a persons interaction with the golf course.

After setting up a plan for our casino themed golf course we divided up to get all the jobs done.

the process of building and painting went smoothly. And we came up with further details are we put the golf course together.

The only bumps along the way were the wooden dowel breaking, which what allowed the ball to drop out of the slot machine.

However we overcame that with the new solution of placing the dowel lower.

I found this a stressful but fun assignment.

And I was impressed by how ours and everybody else's turned out.

Snow Bridge

I found this project difficult due to the time restraints.

For my group and I had a solid plan.

We created molds for giant ice cubes to create an arch , however, the molds did not freeze all the way though and by trial and error we came up with a plan that would work.

Instead of using water to make ice we used water as a glue to keep the snow packed together.

And we made smaller bricks of snow still using the molds.

Our finished piece we thought about the positive and negative space of the bricks, because essentially we were creating a wall.

perhaps the title of our piece should be "Hole in the Wall"

Topographical map- Kait

While researching for maps I decided to pick a location that I knew little about. I had the intension of researching about my place and incorporate in into my art work.

I selected Lesotho, Africa.

the Information that I used was about their homes that are dome shaped and that their income was primarily diamonds.

However,

My map turned out to be a precipitation map.

Instead of going with the theme of Earth I stretched my piece into a water theme.

I found the part of the map that was outlined to be diamond shaped and because household and income are closely related I decided to place a dome (house) on a square platform (diamond income) with a blue light on the inside of the dome.

I used the lines on the map to create light airy forms that went around the dome on different levels.

The pieces were differed from one and other with stitching

I was not very please with the outcome, i had it pictured differently.

But I found some parts of it beautiful, like when the blue light shone though the delicate blanket stitching.

Topographical Map Lauren Gilson

I decided I would go about this assignment using paper. I was very interested in the system used to illustrate the differentiating heights, and wanted to highlight this interesting layer breakdown. I realized through the beginning steps of making the paper map model that I wanted to involve lighting. I felt that the use of light really accentuated the layers, and at the same time made the map come a bit more alive. Each layer of the map is a sheet of paper with little five sheet spacers in between them, executing the fifty meters to one millimeter ratio. The structure supporting the map that houses the light source isn't ideal, but it is made up of things just from my room, and now to me, I find it interesting how what working with just the things directly accessible turned out.

The Ruins

Nicole, Ashley, Peter, Michelle, and my self created the bridge that follows. Originally our design involved a trough for a foundation for us to work off of. After some more in depth research we realize revision was necessary, so during the first day we had begun creating building blocks once playing around with those we started stacking forming out bridge. The blocks displayed as a ruins theme like collapsing columns, so we then sprayed the bridge down stiffening for the following morning. The next morning after testing the durability for a little bit we were confident with out solum ruins.

High Resolution topo map.

So I created my topographical map out of a post-it pad using a mat knife. I initially had bought some sheet metal with plans to make it out of that but after playing around with the metal, I wasn't getting as precise to the map as I wanted as well as not giving it the popping lifted effect I needed. So I then started cutting up post it pads playing around with them. My section of the map had both above sea level and below to i made the surrounding boarder of the post it my meeting point for the two. I am happy with the final aside from some minor craftsmen errors.

Topo Project - Chris Lange

I used index cards of various colors for my topo map project. Initially I thought I might use newspaper, but I felt it was too flimsy, and would provide neither a sturdy surface, nor a tactilely satisfying end product. Rather than attempt to emulate a thermally coded map, or a color coded elevation map, I just wanted to use the colors to differentiate between layers so that the viewer would not be forced to rely entirely on shadow and light to see the slight differences in height.

My map also had the virtue of having features other than just landscape on it, and so I drew in the power lines and scratched in small hatch marks to represent the railroad that ran around the map. Overall, I wanted to have an element of touch to the piece, so that it wouldn't be purely visual. Each of the different colors of index card have slightly different textures, as do the indented areas of where the ink has been added, as well as the "tracks".

Rather than display water as negative space within a square frame, I cut the cardboard into an irregular shape, resulting in a less conventional overall construction.

Topo Map

Yay Maps :)

Photo Credit : Jon Meritt :)

This is the map I started out with.
It is a 5X5 inch square of the Adirondacks.


This is how I started.
I mixed several colors of play dough.
Then I rolled it out over cardboard and newspaper.


I decided to cut the lakes out of the first layer to expose the newspaper.
I felt that was necessary because when i was little i was never allowed to play with play dough on the kitchen table.
My mom used to lay down newspaper for me to play on so that I wouldn't make a mess.


Then I cut out the shapes of the different levels of elevation and laid them out.

After laying out the final pieces I covered each elevation with a different mixture of play dough.
After I finished I tried covering it with saran wrap to keep it from cracking.
I failed at that part.
The next morning it was almost in pieces.
So I had to rework all of the layers and wet everything down to stop it from crumbling.



The End :)

Mini Golf

Our last project. The news to us was a bundle of excitement, and anticipation. We were given turf, and told that our last assignment was to construct a mini golf course. Each group would have their own hole, and it had to have a theme, a bend and a mechanical piece for the golf ball. I was in a group with Kait, Garrett, and Derek. We spent most of Monday brainstorming on what we would construct for this project. We went through many themes, ideas, and laughs until we finally decided on a casino themed project. Once we had our theme, we had to overcome the obstacle of what we would make for our hole. A slot machine came into mind, and I suggested that we should have our project interactive with the viewer, or in this case, the player. We wanted to have the ball go into the slot machine, as if it were a coin, have the player pull the trigger, and the ball comes out the other end. We also wanted to gain the "theme" to its fullest extent, and make some more themed items, such as a roulette table, we wanted to use it so that if you hit the ball around the hole, it would spin, and eventually go into the hole. We began construction the very next day. We got plywood, and nails and took to the wood-shop to construct this massive machine. We started to prime, and paint the objects. Through our journey, we did encounter some technical difficulties. With our large slot machine, our mechanics behind making the ball come out the other end were rather difficult and time consuming. Our dowel, which held the mechanics together broke once we had the machine work. Due to the snow day, the wood-shop was closed, so we were forced to make due, and find a new way to make the machine work. After all the painting, and decorating, we began to put together our display. We pieced together the hole and added the turf to our wood constructed miniature golf hole. The final result and event I really enjoyed. I enjoyed watching everyone play all the holes at our "mini golf course" and I really enjoyed our end product. I think a lot of effort and time went into it to make it well constructed, and aesthetically pleasing.

Ice Bridge: Buckley, Greenfield, Lange, Leisk, & Spencer

Return of the Snow Dragon

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topo map

Although everyone was creating 3d topographical maps, I wanted this map to be more like a sculpture than a map. I liked the way that the lines felt more like art than science, and I wanted the viewer to feel that as well. I used cardboard for the substructure, then covered it in paper mache and painted it white to help the viewer to see it as a new way to look at maps- as 2d representations of a 3d sculpture.

Topo Map- Katie Wong

For my map I used paper from Repo. I cut the paper in to circles and traced my map onto it. i then proceeded to carve out my map. I left the edges of my map raw because I felt that went along with the look of the paper and the twine I used to bound and hang my map.

Topography: Lake George

I chose the area around the southern portion of Lake George to reproduce. I thought this region was interesting because of the sharply declining land forms on either side of the lake. I used wood as the medium for my representation because I thought it would make an interesting connection between the lines of the topography map and the rings of the tree. Unfortunately, due to the way the the splinters, it was impossible for me to carve on the horizontal side of the wood with the rings. The rings are still visible on the sides of the carving though. I decided to portray the land as it would actually appear rather than just portraying the map and its lines. I have been to this region many times so that made it easier for me to visualize. I also wanted to convey a sense of nature since it is a rural area; I used the natural material and since the bottom is not sealed it smells like a forest.

Derek Rosenberry, "Topographic sculpture"

Monsters attack the city golf course!!!

The group for this final project consisted of Emily ,Chris , Jon and I we decided our theme should be Godzilla including some other random monsters. First we began to build a road that would have an angle change and at the end of the course would be curves. Then we decided to raise the road off the ground to make it a little more interesting . The materials used were mostly hot glue and cardboard. We all worked real hard to buff out the small kinks we had in our project but most importantly everyone had fun.

Topographical Map

We were asked to bring in a topographical map, and make a three dimensional replica of it. Curiously, I wondered how I could approach this assignment. Because unlike the other assignments where I was limited with materials, this task had potential for unusual resources. As I observed my map, I discovered that it was a mountain, and it had varying shapes and sizes, but mostly it had the curves and rigidness that comes with the mountain ranges in Colorado. I wanted to keep my scale moderately small, and I knew that I wanted to add some sort of texture. I knew that I wanted my presentation also to be clean. I got black mat board, and decided that hot glue would give me the "topographical" feel to the piece, as well as allowing me to manipulate it in different ways. I knew that the hot glue would be clear, so I wanted to give it some texture, so I applied newspaper to the bottom of the sculpture. Then, in many many layers of hot glue, I slowly piled the hot glue on top of one another till eventually it made a topographical map. My end product the glue had this yellowish tint to it, yet hung on the wall, the tint gave it a perfect combination so you could see the multiple layers.

Topographic map

China Golf Hole

Objects