At the end of last week I had pretty much made up my mind for my idea and was working towards a design, this actually proved harder than I had hoped so I went to the Brit Insurance Design of the Year exhibition at the Design Museum in London to draw some more inspiration for what form my idea may take
Obviously I wasn't expecting to find lots of chairs that are traps as well but inspiration to the aesthetics, form for my piece, what materials to use or the mechanism adopted in work there. Now in its third year, the Brit Insurance Designs Awards, "the Oscars of the design world", showcase the most innovative and forward thinking designs from around the world
Straight away I was drawn towards the GINA Light Visionary Model. This innovative and eye-catching new concept vehicle was conceived when the BMW design team questioned the purpose of a car's body. Replacing the traditional rigid structure with a hi-tech fabric skin stretched over a moveable wire frame enables the car to change shape and form. Headlights are hidden - revealed by blinking apertures in the fabrics - and the shape of the rear wing can be altered to influence the aerodynamic performance in different situations. The car's interior can also be shaped to meet the requirements of individual drivers, with dials, switched and other interior elements hidden from view when not required. Despite being a one-off concept vehicle, the GINA Light Visionary Model suggests the intriguing possibility of a production car with more flexibility than had ever been seen before
Here is a link to an video of how this amazing car moves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTYiEkQYhWY
I really like how with hidden moving parts the car changes form and and to an extent the function, the function of moving at an improved speed due to the change in its aerodynamic form. This can be linked to a trap in that the true purpose of a trap is always hidden to achieve the element of surprise and will definitely change in form as the function is activated
As good as it would be to use such high-tech materials in my work, I do not think it is a possibility at this stage so I looked around the exhibition for more realistic materials
At the other end of the exhibition was the Typographic Tree, a graphic piece designed by Gordon Young. When asked by architects Penoyre and Prasard to design a site-specific work of
art for their new library in Crawley, West Sussex, he suggested a 'forest' of typographic oak columns installed floor to ceiling like supporting pillars. Fellow artist Anna Sandberg held workshops with library users, to gather information on people's favourite books, places and memories. Young then worked with typographers Why Not Associated to design columns from this user-generated content. Each of the 14 solid oak 'trees' reflects a different subject - from the opening line of the first Harry Potter book to the gothic text of Dram Stoker's Dracula. The final designs were sandblasted into green unseasoned oak by long time collaborator Russell Coleman. This material - with all its cracks and shakes - was deliberately chosen to contrast with the perfection of the new building's interior
On a previous foundation project I made a stool out of solid oak and know how malleable it is and what realistically I could achieve with this material. With wood you can sand, carve, engrave, cut, polish, vanish unlike other materials, so I would like to use some type of wood in my piece
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