Making the Gin O'clock machine and final outcome

Initially, Sinae and I were going to use cardboard to make the models as it is easy to paint and shape. However, After creating my model's face out of cardboard I realized it was too heavy for the body.

to rectify the issue I tried to attach the heads to some wooden sticks however this was still unsuccessful. 

 

Sinae then suggested that we create the faces using paper and it worked. 

 one of the final decisions we made was to enable the machine to function both magnetically and manually as this will create more interaction with the audience.  The Gin o'clock machine's name originates from this idea that if the models reach 9 it can also spell 9in (Gin ) so it is a funny play on words.

generating final machine design and tutorial feedback

During our group tutorial we were asked to consider the following things : the interaction between the audience and the machine ---> relating back to the narrative of attitudes surrounding alcohol we decided to place the man and woman together in order to convey a sense of closeness.
Time element - Nancy introduced this idea to us and from that we decided to design or use a pre existing mechanism that would make the clock move.

I also considered the character design of the man and woman. Collectively we decided to represent two different time periods to highlight to the audience the societies changing attitudes to alcohol. 

My role was to create a modern depiction of a man and woman so I used elements of my designs to create a man and woman. 

Alarm clock Idea

Another aspect I considered was time. In the narrative  the person is trying to conceal his /hers drinking habit.  when looking at the machine at first, it is not obvious why he /she is concealing the alcohol. Introducing the element of time challenges the status quo.

  

Norwich Museum -Bridewell

During our visit to the Bridewell Museum,

I was exposed to numerous machines with various functions.   In the first session, I entered the "Made in Norwich exhibition "  to  rebus puzzles. By definition, a rebus puzzle consists of a group of pictures that cryptically tell a narrative of some sorts.

Rebus from  around 1865

This image  depicts the idea of longing  through the use of imagery. The Rebus reads :"  "May I see you home my dear?"I think this is an interesting route of exploration within my own work as the Rebus above demonstrates how to convey a narrative. it is possible to simply illustrate this idea or make it obscure just by using pictures.

Rob Nicol - Investigating colour,mark and symbolism

Pop-up books

Today I looked at the various ways the viewer can interact with a machine.

section of the ' The Doll's House' 3D fold out book by Annu kilpelainen  

'In the Forest' by Louis Rigard 

perhaps the idea of pulling a lever to create movement is something that interests me. Moving forward I would like to in-cooperate this element within the machine

Development - Design and Movement

   When considering the character design at first we decided we wanted to create a character that had some humanistic qualities to it. 

collectively as a group we decided that the figure firstly that the gender of the automata was not important. Secondly  drawing influence from Rob Nicol's  ceramic work  I wanted to explore the use of colour on the machine. 

Design development -   machines arms cross revealing and concealing alcohol 

still approaching this idea of concealment I wondered if on of the functions of the  automata could conceal and convey. In my first design, the automata consist of a circular head - triangular body and rectangular legs. The arms are also rectangular and it's function is hold the bottle and book . I attached a set of paper fasteners  to the arms to enable movement , and when operated  from the back of the automata the arms simultaneously cross over concealing and revealing the objects.

back view of machine   

Second position : machine's arms
fully extended
 

First position machine
in a stationary position 

Third position: Machine's arms
in movement 

 I then decided to create a machete using paper. Although I stuck to my initial design a problem that I encountered was the placement of the arms. I did not position them in the correct place which resulted in the model looking awkward. Technical issues also arose from this such as the link in the right arm got caught on the other link making the machine difficult to operate.

back view of the machine : showing
the crossing of the pins