This week we had a guest lecture from Sabrina Raaf. It was really interesting to see her work with robotics. I especially liked the the origami projects like the shape-changing lamp and the dew collecting devices. It was food for thought even if it didn't have direct relevance to Smartfence.
This week we made decisions on materials to buy for testing. PVC seems like a viable option for our project because it is sturdy and cheap. At first I was extremely opposed to this because I thought it would sacrifice the aesthetic of our design and PVC has harmful environmental effects. I was more for using polycarbonate which would provide a beautiful look and be less controversial. However, we decided that because of budget restraints we could either do a larger and more dense installation with the PVC or a smaller and thinner installation with the polycarbonate. Also the way we are using the PVC (embedded in concrete and not running water through it) is not that harmful to the environment. As Keenan put it, the most harmful thing we are doing is perpetuating its use. Moreover, one of the main arguements for using polycarbonate was for wave guiding the LED light, which would allow us to embed the LEDs safely in the concrete, but during a team discussion we vetoed wave-guiding becuase it was getting too complex in material use and the process of it.
I think guiding most of our decisions is the fact that we want to get our project actually built and ahead of schedule so we can troubleshoot and refine it in the last week. Because of this we are working as simply as possible.
Now that we have made some important material decisions I am interested in how we can make PVC have a beautiful sculptural presence. It will be a challenge. I found this video which uses PVC on top of an old television set. I think its a great precedent for how to use PVC creatively as a light sculpture.
http://vimeo.com/jasoneppink/21st-century-campfire
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