So Say Goodnight to the Bad Dream! February 2010
This was the very first project for my very first architectural course at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. The class, specializing in design fundamentals alone, was all about building things, and not so much about analyzing them. Here was the idea for the project: take one very simple object...something you might see on an everyday basis. Using this object as your only building material, and nothing else, create something entirely different. Something, perhaps, that plays poetically with the perception of that original object in everday life. This was the challenge.
Here's the final product. Can you tell what it is yet? Can you tell what it's made of?
So where do you begin with this idea? There are so many different objects that we encounter in our everyday lives. One of the prefaces for this project was that we weren't allowed to use any sort of fastener or adhesive material...that is, other than our one selected material. The material itself would have to be the fastener or adhesive. So I began by thinking about those objects in our daily lives which are themselves inherently good "building material." Paperclips? String? Maybe tape? (Actually, another preface was that we weren't allowed to use duct tape, so scratch that idea) It's actually more difficult than it seems to come up with something unique and clever for this. Try yourself. Even if I were to roll with one of these dull ideas, what in the world would I create, and how would I possibly "tie" in some sort of meaning behind it? You see, this was the real challenge. Creating something with meaning, from something with absolutely no meaning.
Here's a closeup of the center of the dreamcatcher. This is where, as the story goes, all the good dreams pass through the webbing, which otherwise catches all the bad dreams. I used a single zip tie in the middle, and "strung" it with several others, which forms the webbing around it.
I continued to think about this. What simple object is used everyday for a purpose that isn't so dull, so unimportant? After a long list of ideas, I hit one I really liked...zip ties. I've seen them used in police arrests, and what more controversial, thought provoking item to choose than something involved in the judicial system? (well, sort of). So I thought to myself...what do zip ties do, exactly? In the situation of an arrest, easy...they "catch the bad guy." Bear with me as I go through my thought process from that moment on. "Catch the bad guy? Catch the bad...something? What else can I catch, that is also bad? Wait...catch the bad guy...catch the bad dream! I got it!" What about a...dreamcatcher...made out of zip ties? There we go.
Here's a closeup of the "feathers" you typically see on a normal dreamcatcher. They are comprised of several zip ties pulled as tightly as possible around the main zip tie running vertically, and then snipped at the end. This was probably the most difficult part of the project. I didn't know how I could represent feathers with zip ties, and in fact tried many designs before this one. But in the end, this design was the simplest, and yet most effective.
"If I can catch a bad guy with zip ties, why can't I catch bad dreams with them, too?" This was the idea, the "poetic spin," if you will, that created some sort of clever meaning behind my creation. And below is the result. (These were the early days in my architectural schooling, and just like any architecture rookie, I didn't yet know the true value behind documenting lots and lots of process work. So unfortunately, I don't have very many photos of this one. You get the idea, though.)
Here it is again, the final product. To my amazement (this being my first ever project), the reception for this design was pretty darn good. Out of hundreds of student designs, this was one of about a dozen that received a "Best in Show" moniker. I even got a standing ovation for this little guy. It was really the success of this project that made me think I might be able to become a design student.
