Over engineered
Today when faced with the CAD programme I did remember quite a bit from last week (when it felt a totally alien way of working). Today I was able to complete the tasks that Derek set Paul and I, it felt a bit more familiar and accessible.
We had discussions about the Falkirk Wheel http://www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk/index.html which Derek thought was an excellent example of the cross over between engineering and art and yes it is an impressive piece of architectural design although I haven’t seen it in action only photos. The Millennium Bridge in Newcastle near Baltic http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/attractions/bridge/Home.aspx also featured in our discussions as did the Grand Canyon Skywalk – I can hardly even watch the video on the website without feeling queasy. http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/index.html We moved onto how some structures (and maybe objects also) can be over engineered, possibly the Forth Rail Bridge being an example of this, we thought perhaps because the first one might have collapsed during construction?http://www.forthbridges.org.uk/railbridgemain.htm
When I started thinking about CAD and RP and wanting to be at Hethel it was so I could document the environment, learn CAD and make a ‘no pointed needle’ in RP. The no pointed needle came from a video work I made in 2003, Video Triptych. The work used a real object, manipulated to camera and captured to tape using different camera functions: the result is the no pointed needle which only exists digitally. My aim is to make this object three dimensional (in its new form) using CAD as a translation tool and RP as the making tool. I tired to make the no pointed needle and a needle in CAD today with some success (and help). In CAD the needle becomes an object constructed of parts rather than drawn from a single length of wire which is how they are manufactured.
Quote for the day, well there are two, something being over engineered (but my work being described as under engineered!) and also ‘a straight line is an arc of infinite radius’. There was some discussion between Paul and Derek as to the meaning of this but I hadn’t a clue what they were talking about. I imagine that if I launched into art-speak there might be a similar reaction. I like how each job/profession has its own language and how that translates across different disciplines (or not) – all a learning curve or arc perhaps.
