Is CAD safe, my thoughts while cleaning the bathroom.

I am taking a CAD class this semester and I love it. As artists we are always pushing the envelope for the new and innovative. I think CAD is a great medium in this era that everyone should know how to use. While I will always prefer the tactile CAD forces you to think in a different way. One of the great parts about CAD is the rapid prototyping and the ability to print in 3D. We just learned about it today so I know if I tried to throw around all the acronyms for the different printing systems I would butcher it, so I am not even going to try. CAD designs can be printed/created in metal, nylon, and other plastics based materials and they are so cool!! But the social designer in me says wait a minute, what is the environmental impact of heading in this direction. I know its a little late now considering all that we already do in plastics. Yet I am still wondering that in this great technology is there a better way? For the first time ever man has the ability to manipulate the environment to create things that do not naturally occur on this earth, what effect is that going to have? I got to thinking about trees. Trees start from a seed and grow through a biological process into what we know as a tree. When the trees lifespan is over the hard wood can be broken down and used by the earth in all sorts of ways. If we have the ability to create plastics, why can we not create a material that imitates the characteristics of wood? Wouldn't be cool to be able to print my CAD design in a material that I knew wouldn't harm the earth if it got tossed into a dumpster. My hope would be that nobody would toss my design into a dumpster, but hey, things happen. Obviously I am new to CAD and printing so I have no idea what could even work. Yet I stand strong in my idea. We have all this wonderful technology why does the thought of sustainability take a back seat to innovation. In this world I think they should go hand in hand.

Glassblowing

Just some pictures of a couple of pieces I have created so far this semester

Slumps and Bumps

The New York Times today reports the technology industry is beggining to slump. This is just yet another sign of the economic trouble our country is in. I wonder as technology slumps how this will effect design. Everything ebbs and flows, there will be another boom in technology. Who is going to create the next big boom? What have we learned from the last wave and what are we going to need to sustain in the future? Is technology slumpping because we have move too far ahead of what our culture needs to survive? Our current state of economic affairs brings alot of questions to my mind. I wonder how we as artisit will use this?

After Action Review Jewelry project 2

Sustains, things I did well:

Complete the project on time and with all the required bits and pieces, internal framing, hinge, clasp. It was my first ever working pendant of the sort and it works. I was really proud of myself. I did not get solder everywhere and was impressed with myself on that. Otherwise I would have lost a lot of texture having to sand it out. I got a nice texture on the bronze from rolling it through the mill with sand. I like how I adjusted my design after initial reactions to still get my message across without looking commerically funded. I liked how the shininess of the metal and the shape combined gave a feeling of reverence (church triptych) because that is kind of what the place I was thinking of when I made this makes me feel. Not like church, but reverent.

Improves:

Learn not to scribe to deeply. The hinge was a mite looser on the pin than I thought it would be. I think that happened a little bit along the way. Even though I had a work pin in I think all the opening and closing might have opened the holes just enough to make the difference. The loop on which the pendant was to hang from I should have used a thicker gauge wire, but I did not have one available. In hindsight I could have twisted two pieces of the thinner gauges together for more stability.

What ifs:

What if the piece was slightly smaller? If I had a do over I feel I would go in that direction with some more technical precision (scribing) in my work. Megan's suggestion of the sanding stick I liked because the metal did get slightly sunken in the middle. I might also consider a texture on the left hand side. I would not cut into it though because I think you would loose the sense of moving through the piece from front to back as in a door or window.

After Action Review Social Design Problem 2

Things I did well:

I thought my concept was good and fully developed from all angles. I not only considered the containers but the lunch box, and the recipes as a whole. Even though all might not have agreed I thought my cookies were pretty good for no sugar. They work much better as mini muffins though due to the lack of crunch.

Improves:

My outcome with the plastic containers. With two more weeks I think I would have gotten a lot closer to what I was looking for. The failure at vaccumforming taught me a lot and I would have been better off starting with a heat gun rather than trying to use ovens.

What ifs:

What if I had a bit more time and money? I think I could have gotten as possible without injection molding. The best parts of the projects were def my cookies. It's a lot of work to make any sort of desert without flour, butter or sugar. There are no recipes I could work off of, it was all trial and error.

Goggling the Flu

NY Times today has an article about how Google is being used to track outbreaks of the flu. Turns out when people get sick they often Google to check their symptoms before making an appointment with their doctor. So where the flu is being Google'd the most can be reported to medical centers ahead of time, hoping to help control outbreaks of the flu. I think that is awesome! Technology is being used in a positive way to help people. It turns out that it also can predict where mortgage forclosures are rising. When people are getting in trouble with their mortgage they are turing to Google for help, googling forclosure. It makes me think what other trends could we predict with Google and how could we use them for good?

The whole world is covered in a thin film of fecal matter, get used to it.

Ever find yourself obsessively cleaning? I do. Turns out being too clean may not be so good for our health. The business market would have women believe one of the keys to a happy life is a spotless house and they give you plenty of harsh chemicals to do it with. Getting rid of all that bacteria around the house though may be making our immune systems weaker. Turns out kids with more exposure to dirt and grime had less incidents of asthma and allergies. It makes sense. Our bodies need to be exposed to these things to build up defenses. Turns out too that obsessively cleaning is a sign of anxiety. Helps us feel in control when we cannot control the things around us. The article on MSN today brings up several great points about how being too clean really isnt good for us. It does say not to take it to the other extreme. For instance don't touch raw chicken and then put your fingers in your mouth. The article was great, talked about how women bear the burden of most household chores still even though both parents may have a full time job. It really makes you think about priorites and it makes sense. How could your body possibly defend against any sort of germ warfare if it can defend against the common cold? So the next time it rains I will happily stomp my feet in some puddles and feel no guilt about a little dirt.
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/mental-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100218913&page=1