In the Art class, we created sculptures. The sculptures were about how our power animal’s movements can be mimicked by human and machine. I am proud that we have a project that makes me think deeper of natural elements and get to know them better by knowing what role they play in the world and my life. In this project, I learned that many machines mimic animals.
09/2012
The Eyes of the Eagle
Clay, Hard wires, cart board,
19”x 8”x 9”
The idea of this art piece is to show how a movement of an eagle can be mimicked by humans and machines. We might be able to design something that moves as flexibly as an eagle. We did an I-Ching test which determines the animals you connect with, based on what elements you had given. For instance, I was given water and heaven, so I chose an eagle because I have a lot in common with it: an eagle is a smart and stunning animal because it tricks when hunting; I know that every hunter does the same, because I had to hunt for food in a refugee camp in Tanzania. We researched power animals through internet, books and videos, and some people went to the zoo to observe their movements. The elements were easy to connect with an eagle, but the movements were hard to observe because I didn’t get the chance to go to the zoo; I watched a few videos and learned that eagles move with its wings in a fast motion; they can go as fast as 100 miles per hour when trying to catch or fly away from an animal.
The process was the hardest part, but also the most enjoyable. First we had to figure out what our power animals are and then we had to sketch them. The first sketch was just the power animal’s profile and later we made a flipbook of its movements; we had to draw their movements in stop motion and then build a sculpture. We bent hard wires to represent how my power animal, my chosen machine and humans move. For the eagle, the movement is gliding; for humans, ice skating; for the machine, a missile movement. We had to use clay to make legs for those wires to stand on the cardboard. Later, I had to put blue clay on the cardboard to symbolize water. To finalize this piece, I had to make sure that the wires were stable and safe.