p r a g u e . b l a g u e

Final Show

Skodacean

My Skoda collection took a strange twist right at the end. Throughout the semester I used Skodas in animation experiments, eventually my experiments lead to a fluid waving body which reminded me of a deep sea creature. The sea creature like movement allowed me to shape my abstract ideas into a (semi) familiar form. This was a relief because the purely abstract animations were proving to be a bit boring. The idea then became to create a Skoda ocean of creatures interacting with one another. I was only able to develop four creatures, if this idea had surfaced earlier I would have made a multitude of creatures for the show. I plan to continue the idea using autos from outside the Czech Republic and perhaps random household objects. We’ll see what happens. I wish I could say the fish-cars were a metaphor for Skoda being the life-force of Prague or commentary on the commercialization of the natural world but it was truthfully a random result of experimentation. Accidentally creepy.

Re-appropration of the re-appropration project

Here is my plan to re-appropriate my re-appropriation project: Because the charm of my idea is based in its action (motion) I plan to make the action more complected. The idea is still basically the same - the flashlight transforms into a cigarette lighting device. Instead of a simple spring the device will unfold like a Rube Goldburg machine. I'm thinking pullies and weights and some type of spring loaded arrow. Its still in the works. I would like to animate the final project but it may be static due to time restraints. If static the motions would be described by arrows and a written description. I did some research on rube goldburg type machines and founds some pretty cool videos of actual machines unfolding, here are some links:

the way things go
the honda one
Japan
Burning 

 These machines are really fun. My idea will not be as complex as any of these. It will be as complex as I can get it while still allowing it to fold into that little blue flashlight box. Here is a sketch of a possible idea:

Skoda Collection

I have been creating a photographic collection of cars for my final project. In the beginning I was photographing cars of all types. I even went to autoworld in Brussels to capture a bunch of extinct models. Recently I have narrowed my collection to only Skoda brand cars. Skoda is the most predominate Czech manufacture of cars and one of the oldest brands in the world. They come in many shapes and colors. I have also been creating a photographic collection of Czech road signs. I plan to use these photographs together to make an animated kaleidoscope-like collage of my findings. I may or may not put the animation to Czech music. If I did it would probably be the polka of Czech artist Jaromir Vejvoda. I was thinking about adding some trams and metro trains into the animation because they look so different and are representative of the Czech republic.  I have also been collecting forks that I find interesting, so far I have three. The images below are from a test animation of the cars and  of just the forks.

Typeface Inspiration

My typeface was originally inspired by this little white cubist box seen both at the cubist exhibit and the museum of decorative arts:

If you looked directly at the top of the box you would find my basic unit for my typeface. the bottom of the box angles upward in the center like the bottom of the legs of my letters. It was helpful to hear the comparisons made in the group crit. I think I'm going to play up the similarity to the Buckminster Fuller domes. when I started I thought of these things as being composed of concrete like a cubist architecture building but now I see them more as some type of crystal.

Poster Show

The poster show was really neat. I was glad that that guy brought out the extended collection. It must have been nice to have complete freedom to experiment without studios breathing down your neck. This is one of my favorites:

Studio Show Poster

Here is my poster for the studio show. I used arrows and sequential images in an attempt to show the motion of my projects. Because I am a visitor to this studio and not a genuine graphic designer I figured it would be appropriate to label the poster with examples of my shoddy handwriting. The hello guy is peaking out from one of the boxes.

gotta light???

For my project I repurposed an old Czech flashlight. The new object still provides a "light" but in a funny new way. The word 'light' has been reinterpreted to mean the action of lighting one's cigarette instead of the action of providing luminescence. The inner workings of the flashlight have been replaced with a spring loaded match device. Here's the basic idea: someone approaches you with the desire to light their cigarette they ask 'hey, gotta light?' you reply that you do and then revel the flashlight. the cigarette holder at this point things your being a wise guy, providing luminescence instead of fire. The spring-loaded match doubles the pun and thusly answers the request while being a physical play on words. The cigarette holder gets a light and a laugh. a great way to break the ice.

I also designed an 'ironic ice bucket.' This ice bucket is made of things once used for heating. The ice tongs are former coal tongs. The ice bucket is a former kerosene container. They have been painted ice blue on the outside to their new purpose while being fiery red on the inside to remind users of their former purpose.

Cubist Typeface

Here is the progression on my typeface since the last crit. I have tried to rework all of the problem letters. There is a new approach to the K, R, and X. I tweaked the W, M, B, and L.

Prague Boxes

Here are some images of my final ‘Prague Boxes.’ Instead of designing one box that did several impossible things I designed several boxes with simple realistic actions. All of the boxes are mechanically driven, no electricity required. The mechanical action creates both the music and motion of the boxes. The boxes are composted of hand-painted tin cutouts. The mechanical parts are all assembled by local Czech watchmakers. The boxes are quite small measuring at most 3.5 centimeters. The boxes are available in plastic spheres which are dispensed from gumball-type machines for a fee of 5 crowns a piece.

 

You can watch  the animation here:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jwshroye/

 

The first box contains the syncopator factory powered by Prague’s local music man on Charles Bridge. Music from his CD “super dance music” accompanies all of the boxes in action. The music man tips his hat to passer bys and his little monkey friend flips for joy. Birds fly out from behind the bridge, and his little drum beats to the song.

The second box depicts a typical Czech meal of beef goulash, potato dumplings, and beer. The action of this box is manually driven, a small lever switches the meal between the before and after stages.

 

The third box displays a phenomenon one can experience on the way down to the metro. While on the escalator if one tilts their head to the side the other travelers appear to be leaning backward, as if in a strong wind. This illusion is aided by the advertisements orientation aligning with the escalator handrails. The advertisements have been replaced with posters from our first project. The action in this box is manually driven as well. A small lever tilts the escalator back and forth. Too much tilting will cause the passengers to fall. It is a game of sorts.

 

The final box is a depiction of the crowds in front of the Prague’s famous astronomical clock. Large crowds usually gather here to be simultaneously disappointed by the clocks limited hourly action. So the crowd gyrates in anticipation of the event and once it happens they stand still and sigh a sigh of disappointment. And that’s the end.