The Exquisite Object

Topography Project Mary Szustak

Sarah Gender - Mini Golf Course

The Litter Box

The whole named "The Litter Box" was jokingly named as you putted the ball through the mouth of a cat, through it's cheese like body, through a whole at it's end (the butt) and into a litter box. This project was very frustrating to build but after it was done and everyone played it was a lot fun! Sadly I didn't have a good camera to really get some good pictures of it. But I really enjoyed our mechanical object, as simple as it was it added a good amount of challenge since if you did not put the ball just right you always would get stuck and land over par. This whole as simple looking as it was had a real challenge in it.

Sarah Gender - 20X

I found this project to be extremely frustrating. With the limitations I had, it began to seem nearly impossible to get material that would work in such a large scale. But as I came across the wooden dowels, I had planned on covering them after building the shape, but after it was built I really enjoyed the lines and patterns created by the dowels.

Piper - Topographic Map

Systems taught me to consider as many factors as possible before I started work on a project. After my failed first attempt at the topographic map (involving 4,500 tiny beads), I realised I had to start off thinking about the materials, the proportions, the process, and putting them all together. Retrospectively applying those types of considerations to other projects, I began to notice that any physically creative endeavour is a system of factors:

- materials (availability of them? workability of them? strategy for them?)
- strategy (intelligence of it? practicality of it? presentation of it?)
- presentation (intent behind it? effectiveness of it? materials for it?)

...and the system creates a cycle
...and from this cycle comes efficiency, which accelerates the effectiveness of the intended idea

...which is art.

I say, Foundations-- did you really teach me something that goes beyond Foundations?