Precedent / Research

Who are Gypsys

INHABITAT - social housing

alejandroaravena - ELEMENTAL

Teddy Cruz - Official Site

final components complete

All the separate components have been constructed and tested. All that remains is the timber frame that houses the battery and sensor.

halfway

The piece that holds the bowl of ferrous powder is soldered together

Hinge compartment for the battery to be accessed.

After doing some test runs, the mechanical arm would flip over the fulcrum point due to the motor being too fast. So, a counter measure was put in place, a brass arm that limits the movement of the arm to 90 degrees.

The bowl holder was too close to the support and so an extra metal piece was added to it to allow for a larger piece of paper for the output rust to form.

first components bolted to board

This is the final layout of the board. The motor and arm are bolted onto the timber board.

Here is a video showing the motor in action...

powder dropping mechanism

I changed the connection of the tray so it sits flush and wont move when tapped by the mechanical arm. Also I used a heavier piece of metal so that there is less movement; the previous piece was too light and might have caused too much powder to drop.

cog remodelled

After doing sketches of the final layout, i realised there was a redundant section on the turning cog that moves the mechanical arm so i removed it and added the motor straight onto the supporting piece.

concept refinement

After discussions with Olivia, it occurred to me that the essential processes of my machine were made more complicated than necessary and the metal ball component was discarded. Now, the machine still works in the same manner but the mechanical arm directly taps the bowl of ferrous powder onto the patina paper. This eliminates many stages of potential inaccuracies that might make the machine function improperly while still keeping the essence of the idea.

mechanical arm fabrication

Most pieces will be fabricated from found scrap metal. This is the mechanical cog that moves the arm up and down. Its brazed with a propane torch since a soldering iron is too weak to heat and connect rusted bits of metal.

Paper experiments

This is the ferrous powder and oxidising patina

Results on different types of paper

black card - hard to see and takes a very long time to see results. paper also warps alot

thick yellow card - the card doesnt soak the patina well and as a result creates small puddles that distort the silhouette of the object

Tissue - the tissue is too absorbent and the rust bleeds out too much

tracing paper - does not absorb patina well enough and dries too quickly

plain paper - warps a little but the results are easy to see and the patina is absorbed quite well

300gsm watercolour paper - absorbs the patina well and keeps the paper wet. due to its thickness does not warp much and also shows the result very well. (Winner)

output experiments

So the output was initially supposed to be metal ball bearings that would randomly create patterns on the patina soaked paper but I felt it lacked a connection to the site. so, I changed the schematic to a silhouette-rust painting that would be created by dropping ferrous powder onto an object that lay on top of a piece of patina soaked paper.

Here is the arm that would hold the ferrous powder, and some experiments with different types of paper.

The little hole in the silver basin (when filled with ferrous powder) allows for a tiny amount of powder to be sprayed above the item when it is struck (perhaps by a metal ball bearing). Tests need to be done for the height and the force needed to allow sufficient movement for powder to be released.

chaos board

The fabrication of the chaos board. It is an experiment that shows the uncertainty principle; that the slightest change in circumstances can result in a totally different outcome. It serves as both a metaphor for nature and as an audible sign that the machine is running.

Finished electronic component

The finished sensor/relay/motor

Test run

Changed power supply

There was a problem after the motor was hooked up. Although the indicator LED lit up to indicate that the sensor was working, the motor continued to operate regardless of whether the sensor was open or not. The relay was 'ticking' but on closer inspection, it was found that the voltage of the battery was too low so the power source was changed to a 12V battery.

pathetic.

bigger is better.

Sensor Fabrication

Photos of the fabrication of the sensor and relay

Ultrasonic sensor

Ultrasonic sensor and relay

The Sensor

the machines concept is to work perpetually as rust/decay is perpetual/inevitable. an electronic motor will be used to power the turning cog. the motor will also be connected to a proximity sensor that will activate a relay. The machine works in reverse though, where the motor turns when no one is near, but stops when someone is near. This is a play on the process of decay, where we normally only see the result of decay and hardly the actual decaying (probably because most natural decay is quite slow). Nevertheless, I proceeded with compiling the electronics necessary.

So the concept evolved into a machine that was electronically powered to turn a cog, that raises a lever arm, that transports a metal ball into a rail, that taps ferrous powder onto a piece of paper that is soaked in patina and creates an outline of an object that is found from the site. The metal balls then run down a chaos board and end up back at the mechanical arm to form a closed, continuous loop.

analogue concept diagram

analogue

the concept i wanted to take from the site was the idea of rust and nature, and the beauty in decay. 

i wanted to come up with something that records the decay in nature and outputs it into something of 'beauty'; an artwork.

at first i came up with a mechanical machine that would create rust artworks by continually feeding marbles through a maze to create rust patterns.

the machine was to be hand-cranked and its output had little to do with the site.

so, after discussions, i decided the machine would work electronically, a continuous process that worked as nature did, in perpetuality.

site photos - arcadia