Fresh Materials.

After our first lecture and tutorial we were told to bring with along some different samples of materials ranging from woods, metals, and plastics, to leathers, and paper.

Initially my interest lay with food; being able to manipulate food as a material in a respectful way that did not upset the cultures of New Zealand. however, as food isn't on the list of materials I have changed my angle. 

I am still very interested in natural materials, taking from nature, using something, and then when its use is over, giving it back to nature to decompose and turn into something new.

Scrap of Possum

Wednesday after the tutorial I went to two shops that I love, The first was the sheep factory that used to be located on the on the eastern side of Mt Victoria, it has now moved to Lyall Bay. Here I was able to find some cheap possum scraps and some small sheepskin patches.

Rolling the possum scrap up changes its form completely.

The skin of the possum, which has been cleaned and treated. Underneath all of the fur it is very thin.

Two different coloured sheep patches, they feel quite processed and artificial.

The underside of the sheep patches doesn't feel like natural skin, but a heavily treated material.

the second is 'Made on Marion' which used to be known as Goldings, it is a little craft store on Marion street that has all sorts of materials and implements for craft work, my favourite section here is the leather bins. I was able to find some affordable, yet surprisingly large leather scraps, as well as a not so cheap, yet completely gorgeous goat hide. I am saving the goat hide for another project, it is too beautiful to experiment on.

It just so happened that the weekend prior to this course starting I was deconstructing an old lazy-boy couch, the couch had an interesting mechanism with all sorts of bits and bobs made from steel. Here are some interesting pieces.

I can only imagine that this is useful for inclining the chair.

Springs tightly coiled.

This piece of wood was one of the feet, I couldn't throw it out as it had some interesting marks from wearing over time.

This hook was connected to a spring.

This solid hunk of steel was on either side of the chair and helped to put the foot rest mechanism out.

I have an array of interesting bits and pieces of different shapes and materiality, now I will interact with them and explore their physical properties.

Note:

In addition to my current manifesto draft I want to add the points:

Reuse wherever whenever possible.
Recycle.
D.I.Y. save your own money and do it yourself. Practice skill, practice culture. Spend effort and time rather than lots of money.

Something along the lines of this. To hone tonight.

To Do List

To Do:

• Use Magic Lantern in cooperation with my camera to enhance the cameras capabilities for capturing fantastic images.
• Night Photography at the airport. Check flight times for jetstar/air NZ/Quantas/other companies who fly at Wellington. 30 second exposure timer. ten shots consecutively.
• Play with fireworks. Capture fireworks in long exposure images
• Strap little fireworks to toy cars light and capture in a long exposure image.
• Measure a distance with light in a long exposure. Every few paces shine a light in the direction of the camera.
• Use a measuring wheel with a light on it to aid measurements.
• Make other funky contraptions to use in the measurements with lights.

Inspiring Websites Exposures

http://laughingsquid.com/long-exposure-photos-of-planes-taking-off-and-landing-at-sfo/

http://www.geekologie.com/2012/09/long-exposure-pic-reveals-spazzy-nature.php

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/11/04/11/

http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/lax-menagerie.html

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/the-star-filled-night-sky-becomes-a-magical-sight-when-combined-with-this-camera-technique

Makara Beach at Dawn

Here are all of the images of my 5-7 shoot down at Makara Beach Wednesday morning.

I began focussing on stars as in the prior exercise using long exposures. The better images I took resulted in light trails of planes and boats.

As the light of dawn came up I began to furiously experiment with exposures and apertures; and inevitably ended up taking long exposed selfies with the dog, and then some experimental landscapes.

Light Trails

 My latest shoot produced six images that interest me in an area I'd like to continue exploring.

I woke up Wednesday morning at 4.30 and drove down to Makara Beach with the dog. Together in the dark we clambered around the beach and up a  hill, woke up a sleeping goat, and came to a good spot that looks out over the cook straight.

I started by capturing images of stars but soon turned my attention to moving objects with lights. i.e. ships and planes.

Two ships in the cook straight 120 seconds

Ship in the cook straight 120 seconds

Early morning plane 22 seconds

early morning plane 40 seconds

early morning plane 23 seconds

early morning plane 60 seconds

The trails produced by ships and planes interest me a great deal. I would like to do more plane long exposure photography. I would like to be able to work out information regarding the trails of planes. I particularly like the image with the red dashed line. With some more research I could make calculations as to how fast the plane might have been travelling.

I have done some research into long exposure photography and will continue to research and practice it.

Manifesto Draft

Insert Intelligent Paragraph Here

 

Designers:

·         Designers must create with the triple bottom line in mind.

                                Think about the planet

                                Think about people

                                Then think about Profit.

·         Consider each of these equally throughout the course of the design process.

                                Materials
                                Manufacturing
                                Packaging
                                Use
                                Transport
                             Waste

·         Quantify all materials, processes and the environmental impact throughout the design process.

·         Be able to trace/track all materials throughout the process.

·         Be transparent with information. Make it public. Be Honest. Give the power to the consumers.

·         Don’t be exclusive. Allow anybody who wants to the opportunity to buy your product.

·         Be the first. The first business, the first system, the first nation. Be ther first and others will follow.

 

Consumers:

·         Take the power.

·         Read the packaging.

·         Value more than just price. Value the environment and the people who made the item.

·         Buy good stuff. Buy crafted items over plastic factory made crap. Preserve the culture of making that led to the creation of that product.

·         Take your canvas bags to the supermarket.