The Final Months.

In an effort to bring everyone up-to-date, I thought I would post a series of photos documenting events and projects of the last couple months. It certainly has been a busy time.

First, I finished up the third version of the foot-chair. I had seven sheets of baltic birth plywood cut with a CNC router (that just means the drill bit that is doing the cutting is controlled by a computer) to make twenty-one plywood layers. Then I had to glue each layer to the next and sand the whole thing smooth. And it works! When someone goes to sit down the chair tips backwards. But if the feet are propped up on the rest the weight is counterbalanced and the chair sits flat.



Then it was off to New York for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. I had some family make it up for the event and it was really fun to share the design world with them.


When I got back from NYC it was time to move all of my work over to the show space. During set-up I was pretty overwhelmed by the amount of space my work needed to fill, but in the end it was nice to have a little buffer of empty space around each piece. I shared the space with a fellow classmate who used the front half while I got the back. Making its blog debut is the completed wenge table with the slide puzzle top. It was by far the biggest hit of the show.






And then I graduated! Goodbye Providence. Goodbye RISD.

Quick Link

There is a little blurb on the RISD website about our ICFF project. You can check out the official photos of each project.

http://www.risd.edu/student_projects_icff09.htm

Round Three

I have gone back and forth on this project.

Which material should I use to make the thing?
Should I even make the thing at all?
Maybe I should just make models?

For now I have settled on an idea and am currently moving forth.

I started by using the 3D printer to make some small models based on a drawing I did on the computer. They were a great, fast way to test the tipping point of the seat.


From these tiny models I discovered that the back "leg" needed to extend farther back to account for the momentum of weight moving quickly towards the floor. For the next round of tests I moved up in scale and made the models by hand so I could quickly adjust to different ideas.


The 1/4" scale plywood models were easy to make a super-helpful. I quickly realized that the large mass under the seat added too much actual weight and too much visual weight to the seat-side of the chair. So I cut some of the material away but thought the leg looked a little stubby. The third version (the one on the left) was the most successful. I extended the leg which fully accounted for any backwards motion and looked more proportionally in balance with the rest of the piece. Additionally, I lowered the footrest to a more natural height. This throws the balance of weight off a bit but I think I can account for this in the final piece by hollowing out sections of the interior.

I liked the plywood models well enough and think I will go ahead and make the full-scale prototype from the same material. The challenge is getting all the layers to line up perfectly so the crisp lines are preserved. So I think I am going to get a machine to cut all the layers out perfectly so I just have to put them together.

Awards of Excellence

RISD gives out a series of awards each spring to graduate students who exhibit "excellence" in their work. The various majors are grouped into categories (fine arts, design, and architecture) and a select group of students in each category can earn anywhere from $3000 to $5000 if they are selected. Furniture falls into the design category along with graphic design, industrial design and textiles. To be considered, each student puts together a two-minute QuickTime video of their work. Thought you all might enjoy seeing mine. Results of the awards are announced May 1st.

Slater Mill

Built in 1793, by Samuel Slater, an immigrant from England, Slater Mill was the first successful water powered, cotton spinning mill in North America located on the banks of the Blackstone River at Pawtucket Village. It is generally considered the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.



It all starts with the water wheel so we will too. There is a system of dams and gates directing the water towards the wheel, but it takes a surprisingly small amount of water to get the thing moving. The wheel turns and rotates the shaft which provides the power for all the machines in the rooms above. Huge leather belts connect the various spinning gears and allow the operator to change the speeds and direction of the power.


The capabilities of the mill were pretty impressive. They could take a raw cotton bundle and process it all the way through to woven cloth. Below is a video of one of the most technically complicated weaving machines at the mill. It is designed to weave a narrow strip of ribbon with a decorative pattern. The pegged-boards control the movement of the harnesses which determine what color is showing at a particular point in the fabric.



Rhode Island was once the center of textile production in the US. Currently, only a few mills remain. The loss of industry combined with corruption has really hurt the state. It has the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

What is Micaelan Making?

So, it has been a while since I have reported on any projects and perhaps many of you are wondering "What is Micaelan making?" Well, I have a few projects up my sleeve that I will just go ahead and share in one big group.

Instead of working on any completely new projects, I am going back to some of my favorite ones from the past two years and taking them a step further. Specifically, I am looking back at the bent metal chair that tipped over and the ball of leather pieces held together with cord.


Even though I presented the metal chair as a final product, I always felt it was more of a prototype that would inform the final piece. For my thesis exhibition, I will be using this project to demonstrate the development of an idea from a 2D sketch to a series of full-scale, 3D models. I am currently in the process of using what I learned on the first two attempts and building a third "final" piece. I am using a 3D computer modeling software to try and work out some of the details before I commit to a final design and start building. We have a new 3D printer at the school so I can draw the piece on the computer and then use the printer to make a physical model. This technology is often called Rapid Prototyping and people make some pretty amazing things with this technology (see below).


I have been working on redoing the connections on the leather ball that I made in the fall. Originally, all of the leather pieces were held together with colored leather cord. I hadn't anticipated the weight that each cord would have to account for and it has gradually started deteriorating. I am replacing each leather cord with plastic-coated steel cable which should easily be able to handle the weight of the leather pieces. I still love the leather cord though and am working on some new ideas that will allow me to bring it back.



In this sample above I am using the leather cord to create a hinge between the two leather pieces. I was inspired by a visit to Slater Mill and the huge leather belts that power the machines (see subsequent post).

Field Trip

Field Trip! All of the second-years in the department headed to New York City this weekend for a jam-packed schedule of events. One of the main objectives of the trip was to visit shows and exhibitions and to talk with curators in the hopes that we would be able to bring some of that knowledge into the shows we each have to mount in the coming months. We started at the large design museums in the city and worked our way down in size to independent galleries. One of everyone's favorite shows was at a well-established gallery in Chelsea where the Japanese design collective, Nendo, was showing a large grouping of their Cabbage Chair. My favorite thing about this particular show was the number of different ways you could experience the work and the space (see video).



Day two was spent in Brooklyn where there are a ton of young designer/makers living and working. This area is probably the hub of furniture design in the US and there are quite a few RISD connections interspersed among the crowd. We visited with UM Project, a team of two guys who design and build furniture to sell in small batches. They also do interior design projects for stores and restaurants where they design the look and feel and then build the whole thing as well. Apparently, this is really where they make their money. Another interesting Brooklyn stop was at the recently opened VOOS Furniture. They take furniture on consignment from designers in the New York area and sell their work in the showroom at a cut of 65% to 35%. Usually the designer/gallery cut is 50%/50% but they are hoping to keep the prices of the finished goods down by giving the designers a higher cut. It is a great idea and I hope it works! The owner was very nice and eager to work with RISD graduates.

Decision Made

Today is the end of Wintersession. I spent all week finishing up my piece and met with my instructor this morning to discuss the result.

After using Photoshop to visualize the metal frame in various colors, I decided to paint the floating box element white and the support pole a charcoal gray. As soon as I saw the painted elements I knew I had made the right decision. The color really helps unify the piece and gives it a more considered appearance. I used spray paint to cover the metal and had to prime, paint and seal the entire piece in one day. My index finger is still numb at the tip from pressing down on the nozzle all day. I am not sure how well or how long the paint job will hold up but for now it is satisfactory.

The finished piece is a little over six feet tall and has quite a strong presence for being such a straightforward gesture. I am very pleased by how it turned out and can imagine a grouping of them in a room being quite intriguing. My instructor had the great suggestion to draw the finished piece. As designers and makers, my classmates and I often use sketching as a necessary development and construction tool. But once decisions are made we rarely go back to the paper to document the end result. There are some artists who do not sell their physical work but instead sell the documentation of it. This is especially true for artists like Christo and Jeanne-Claude who work with large outdoor installations. I thought the drawings might be a fun may to explore my projects at the next level.

Photoshop Decisions

My piece that I have been making for Wintersession is almost done. In fact, everything is done except for the finishing. I have had trouble making a decision on whether or not to paint the metal elements or leave them as steel. And if I do decide to paint, what color to use. Since I had the piece partially assembled my instructor suggested taking a photo and manipulating it in Photoshop (a powerful, and popular, image-editing software) to try out some of the options.

Original Photo

Edited Photo

Lest you think Photoshop is not all it is cracked up to be I should state that I am by no means an expert, nor in this case was I trying to be. You get the idea though. I was able to get a vague idea of what the piece would look like without having to waste a bunch of time and money actually testing the physical piece.

Thesis Exhibition Space

As a part of the thesis process we are required to mount a show of our work. The school provides a space but it is less than ideal. It is located in a RISD building which is not accessible to the public and the building itself is home to the upholstery studio and the alternative materials space so it is always junked out with the remnants of student work. Not ideal. After having spent so much of my time and energy working on the pieces I would hate for only a few people to see them. So, with my classmate Ruth, I went in search of a different space and found the perfect spot. It is an empty retail space on the corner of a block with windows wrapping around the perimeter.


The owners were willing to rent it to us at a reduced rate for a month each. Ruth will be having her show in April and I will be up from May 15th to June 14th. I am excited about having my work in a beautiful space that people can actually visit. My show will coincide with the large grad show held yearly in the convention center so hopefully I can direct people to my space from the furniture booth at the show. I would love to sell some of my work - my apartment just can't take any more stuff. I am hoping to find another student to share the space with me. Preferrably someone whose work would hang on the walls so the distinction between our work would be clear. And preferrably someone who knows a lot of people so they can help bring people into the space.

Etsy Shop Opens!!!

My weekends have been filled with purse-making for the last few weeks. So far I have two purses and two clutches. I can make each clutch in just under two hours while the purses take quite a bit longer. I should really try and determine just how much longer, but with the handle and extra stitching the time really adds up. I remodeled my Etsy shop last weekend and today I put some purses up for sale. Etsy.com is an online marketplace for handmade goods. They sold $100 million worth of goods last year and their customers are 97% women! I am not sure how well my bags will do on Etsy - the average transaction size is $30! - but maybe I will get some good feedback. Check it out at MicaelanDavis.etsy.com.

Good News

I am sure most of you remember the rawhide tables I made last fall. Well, the tables were made in conjunction with a class that will be exhibiting selected projects at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City in mid-May.

According to its website, ICFF is "North America's singular showcase for contemporary design. The Fair draws the most intrepid seekers of design truth and design trends to an extraordinary exhibition of the most inspired models of design on the forefront, as well as thought-provoking programs and a schedule of supplementary exhibits and features."

Due to space restrictions, not all of our projects could be included in the show but I just heard yesterday that mine will be one of the nine projects that gets the go-ahead. I am really excited to be a part of the show and am looking forward to meeting lots of cool people. I am also hopeful that something will come of my rawhide tables. It will definitely be an eventful month!

A New Direction

While I was at Haystack in September I made a purse out of leather remnants. I have received lots of positive feedback and have decided to see if I can't make something of it.


The first version of the purse had some details that needed improvement, namely the handle and how it connected to the body of the purse. To work out the details, I purchased some large leather remnants online and started stitching yesterday morning.

Since I ordered the material online, I wasn't quite sure what the actual product would look like. One leather in particular was a little odd so I decided to use it for my first round of testing. After a full day of planning and stitching, I had a swollen, red hand and a purse to show for it.


I'd love to hear what everyone thinks...although it might be difficult to get a true impression from these photographs.

Slowly coming back.

Over Wintersession (the short six-week semester between Fall and Spring), I am doing an independent study with one of the members of my thesis committee. The piece that I will be designing and building is inspired by a few of my experiences over the holiday break.

First, on Christmas Day, I sat down with Graham's family to watch Man on Wire, the recent documentary of Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers.

I loved the visual impact of the body seeming to float in the air.

Second, during my celebration of the New Year in Austin my family and I got to witness up close an aerialist performance in the City Hall.



The interaction between the fabric and the body, and the various forms the combination of the two created, seemed to fit right in with my thesis topic. Additionally, the use of textiles and physical athleticism are right in line with my interests.

Third, although thankfully I have had no direct experience with them over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed looking at various images of spider webs online. Flickr slideshows are amazing!

Their intentional invisibility and the way in which they trap the bodies of insects is particularly interesting.

Some old news.

I never posted an update of my final project from the fall. Not surprisingly, I got photos of everyone's project but my own and it has taken me a bit of time to track some down.

Although it is a bit old news at this point, my final crit went well. Usually, we take notes for each other of what was said during the crit but this time around we set up a video camera. I haven't yet received my copy but I am anxious to go back and hear the comments without having to worry about responding. Unfortunately, the leather ties that hold the molded-leather pieces together were too thin and not strong enough to support the weight. The project survived through the crit but began to snap apart as I carried it back to my studio. I have some trouble-shooting to do before it is ready for its official presentation but you get the idea. Also included are pictures of some of my classmates' projects.








The first three photos are of projects done by my fellow second-years working on their thesis body of work. The remaining images are of work done by those in their first year of study.