Metamorphosis of my Metamorphosis project...

I began with graphite sketches onto cut pieces of plywood, then decided rather than carving IN the face, I would paint the skin with white acrylic paint.  I played around with ways of arranging my panels, until ultimately deciding that vertical is the way to go.  I wanted to then take advantage of the grain of the wood, so I used my dremmel tool to carve away the negative space around the heads.  I really liked the results of this because the plywood consisted of three shallow layers with woodgrains perpendicular to each other.  When I carved into the wood, the woodgrain shifted, really making the figures stand out.  

The Five Obstructions

        My first impression of the The Five Obstructions was not a positive one.  I was completely bored throughout most of the film.  It wasn't until AFTER finishing the movie and thinking more about the motivation behind making the film, that I started to appreciate it a little more. 

I was blown away that Jorgen Leth, an experienced filmmaker would actually go along with being bossed around by a less experienced artist.  I began to wonder Leth's motives behind allowing himself to be at Von Triar's mercy.  I think that Leth may have wanted to rekindle his carreer, or maybe feel more involved with modern filmmaking.  He may have just wanted to step out of his comfort zone.  

Though watching the five different iterations of The Perfect Human was quite dull, I learned that being given limits to work around can really stimulate man's imagination.   For example, even though Von Triar tried to make Leth create bad movies by giving him miserable limits, Leth worked WITH these limits to create truly original, quirky films; films that had he not been given these limits, he would have never been inspired to make.  

My Inspiration:

My process

Thought Process:

INITIAL STAGES:

Before starting, I imagined a single "feeler"  attached to the forehead to allow the user to find their way way in the dark without running into anything.  The person wearing this feeler would not be blindfolded. 

I then started thinking about how ironic it would be to have something that actually blinds you and helps you find your way.  I then decided to incorporate a blindfold into the headpiece.  

I then started considering the materials I had.  I had several short foam cylinders.  I realized that I could actually make several extensions coming off the head.

STARTINGOUT:

The greatest challenge in making the headpiece was figuring out how to make the hat that the feeler would be attached to.  I started out sewing the vinyl I had together to make a hat of sorts, but I quickly realized that would be too flimsy, and not protective enough if I was going to be running into walls with my head.  I then made the hat out of sheet foam with vinyl glued on the outside for aesthetic purposes.  

The rest came quickly.  I hot glued the foam discs together to make a very long cylinder.  I then wrapped them in vinyl to increase their strength. 

Placement:  

I made four long feelers.  I wanted most of them to be in the front, because I would be walking forward more than backwards, but I also thought I should put put one in the back just in case.

I realized that I had bought googley eyes from the ScrapBox for fun, but then decided it would be funny to glue one on each of the feelers, because they acted like my eyes.

AFTER THE FIRST CRITIQUE:

I was told in the critique that I should have more sensitive feelers coming off from the larger feelers, so that if I ran into something I wouldnt knock it down or damage it.  I decided to take light gage wire and attach it to the ends of the large feelers.  I then had the problem of the sharp points of the wire that could poke someone's eye out.   I attached more googley eyes to each end of the wire for both safety  and aesthetic purposes.