Motion Picture Machines

This material inquiry asked for my partner and I to create a machine that would make a mark of some sort while its mechanics represented a character word given to us. We had all the supplies needed set up on a desk which consisted of hobby motors, battery packs, conductors, and varies craft materials. In this assignment I learned to think on my feet and that at times the unexpected outcome ends up resulting as the best one. While the details of this assignment were being explained, I immediately got overwhelmed with doubt that I would be anywhere near successful. I had never done anything like this before. Although I was nervous, I was also very intrigued due to the examples that were on display and the one that was placed in action. I looked at the materials that had been used and felt comfort and relief seeing how familiar or "everyday" they were.

Me and my partner had quickly looked at the examples on TRACS and observed the already made examples closely to get an idea running. We grabbed our battery, the faster moving hobby motor, and proceeded to head into the other room. We started by playing with our battery and the hobby motor to understand how they worked together. Then we started grabbing random supplies and once we had a couple things set in front of us, we knew an idea would emerge since we didn't have a lot of time to plan thoroughly. However, I was then surprised by being asked to pick a random card

with a character word on it that our machine had to embody. At first, me and my partner felt troubled since we had no idea what to make of with the word given to us, which was ambitious. Suddenly, I came up with an idea and got super excited because of how creative and fun it was going to turn out. I had thought of making our machine look like a snail running a marathon and it would leave its slime track behind him which would actually be the mark of paint created with its movement. We get the rest of the craft materials we think we

need and start creating. After finding a bowl that would work as our shell and attaching the battery on the top, were told that the character word cannot be physically represented, but rather be worked into the mechanics and movement. I felt defeated because the idea of my snail would not be sufficient. I stopped to think of how we can incorporate the character word and again came up with an idea that restored my faith and also allowed me to keep my snail design. I changed the

fast moving hobby motor for the slower one. The new objective was to make our machine move slower and "jagged", but nonetheless still move foreword. I grab the smaller Styrofoam balls and punch them through the legs of the motor. It worked, but then our bowl would be dragging on the surface, which initially we did not want. I then reach for the bigger ones and it held the bowl upright, but they are not attaching themselves effectively. We try gluing them but due to the material it was not adhering to the side of the motor. We were beginning

to get frustrated and running out of time because of all the previous thinking and decision making. My partner even suggested to start over and to use a cup like the majority of the class. I told her we were far too deep into the idea and short on time. I proceeded to hastily walk around the class, looking into drawers and cabinets whilst thinking what can be attached to create jagged movements and rotate like wheels. This is where I had to truly learn to think on my feet. I usually tend to have time to create my pieces when it comes to art. However, this assignment was a long over due reminder and lesson that has taught me to create new things in such a quick

manner. In addition to not underestimate your own capabilities. I'm thinking and looking around and then come across to a hidden bag filled with bubble blowers. I grab two and take them to our table. I choose these because they would work as a type of wheel, easy to glue to the motor, and have great texture to create an interesting pattern on the paper. My partner suggests gluing them differently so our machine would have a limping kind of movement. It worked just the way we

wanted it to, but then we came across our next obstacle. The bowl couldn't be in direct contact with the motor because it would then not allow it to move. I grabbed some Popsicle sticks and thought of gluing them to the motor and bowl creating that lifted distance it needed. My partner noticed while gluing it to the motor that it would not be strong enough to hold it up. I proceed to get more Popsicle sticks, break them, and create support beams on the side connecting them to the initial sticks and the bowl. After adding a lot of glue, it became a supported structure. Only when it was placed carefully though it would stay

upright. The weight of the battery on top of the bowl made it tip backward. It still moved forward just not in the manner we wanted it to advance. After testing it with the paint slathered on the wheels, we add the finishing decorative touches which included cupcake liners to hide the battery and a pair of eyes. Then we were ready to preset our machine. Although we did not want the bowl to be dragging, it allowed for our classmates to see underneath the bowl. It showed the inner workings and process that had been taken. In addition, because of the dragging, the cupcake liners rubbed against the trail of paint it was leaving and created an even more interesting

pattern that reminded us of an alligator tail. Our machine limped and looked like it was struggling, but continued to move forward towards our drawn finish line truly revealing ambition. I was proud with our final product and the fact we did not resort to a cup. During our demonstration, is when I learned that unwanted or unexpected outcomes can turn out to be strengths in a composition. In the future, when I'm assigned to create something or for my own collection of pieces, I'll try not to overthink it and let the unexpected occur since it may come with delightful surprises. I need to learn to accept failures and instead of complaining, learn to work with them as I did here. The tools that we used in this project gave me an idea on how I can implement something similar like this into my art classroom as a lesson. I could ask my students to bring moving toys of some sort or anything that creates a type of movement and use those to create a piece. For example, bringing in a toy car and adding paints to its wheels and letting it move around. Or setting down an electric toothbrush on the paper covered in ink. The student could be in control and may move the paper around or even the toy/object itself to compose something. However, I would encourage them to stay away from ordinary materials such as brushes in order to create their piece.