New Ideas

Having talked through my initial ideas with the tutors and deciding to give it more thought I moved on to other subject areas. We discussed the idea of producing a series of icons that are familiar to the general public as treasures of some kind. Suggested ideas were caricatures of famous figures, historic paintings such as the Mona Lisa or Andy Warhol’s Monroe. Another idea was to use the artifacts that make up the focus of the Indiana Jones films but, despite the enthusiasm I would have for such a project, I quickly decided this would appear abit 'geek' like or unprofessional without good reason. In a similar vein came the idea of historical artefacts that dominate world history such as the Death Mask of Tutankhamun or the Sutton Hoo Helmet (below).

The Monroe idea could be interesting and did strike a cord with me. In fact any of the Warhol subjects would make an interesting series, each with their different colour schemes. Another possible choice should the main subject get finished ahead of time.

Racking my brain to think of icons of merit that have fame I thought what about producing a series of awards. The most famous in my mind are the BAFTA's, Oscars and Golden Globes. There are of course many more but looking at these 3 and sketching them out I decided that the Oscar (above) would be a superb choice given its slender figure. It is ideal for blending in with the shape of the PEZ body which has built in feet (photoshop idea mock ups below).

Having got initial approval from the tutors I have produced a rough Oscar maquette to give some idea of how the form might look (see below). Although slightly out of proportion, the benefits of having this character are clear. At a glance I can imagine people thinking it is a full Oscar sculpt until closer inspection. The further reinforce this idea, the standard mount, a film reel on its side, and plinth will make a great display aid and support the weight of the dispenser for this show. The figure holds a cruisaders sword which is easily blended in with the 'spine' of the PEZ dispenser body.

I must admit I've had a few ups and downs about the possible worthiness of this subject but I'm trusting in it as all around me seem to really like the idea, tutors included. I think my uneasiness is down to the uncertainly with the rest of my EMP brief.

I dismantled a PEZ dispenser (see above) to figure out exaclt how it works and get better access to the internal measurements. Using this, I have drawn up accurate mm drawings of the dispenser body on Rhino (see below) and intend to draw the internal components shortly. These drawings will act as the mm perfect guide to be scaled up to the required size for my card dispenser.

Considerations for this project so far have been:

• The device itself, engineering the components to function correctly will require modification from the standard PEZ mechanism. A working maquette would be a good place to start to figure this out.
• Sculpting the character will create a lot of weight. This can be solved by rotational casting or spin molding the sculpt as a hollow cast to keep it light weight.
• The finished body and sculpt will need to be finished to appear golden. Although I have seen good paintjobs that produce a gold effect, I am not convinced this is the best way to imitate it. Will Strange has suggested I look into Vac Metalizing - a process I have not come across before. The process is similar to plating but can be applied to most materials giving a metal or imitation metal finish.

The Oscar is a coveted award for people in the film industry. Its actual form has, although widely photographed (see below), been kept under strict copyright laws. This means there are no imitations that resemble the award on the market for direct reference. This should not be too much of a problem with the large number of photographs online.