सिर मंजूरी

Flying half way across the world to India, it was crucial that we must enter this new world with an open mind; as soon as we shut our selves out the experience we all gained would have never existed. Before departure almost everything I heard from people were connotative and in my own mind I was picturing a very large slum essentially: even though I knew there is always a division of class. Coming from a western vantage, I had come with some negative interpretations of what to expect but I was blown away when I got experience the real side of India. One of the most interesting things to me was what I called the “Indian Bobble” which consists of a head bobble with out moving the neck and just the head. This reaction is common to all people of India and a response to a question that has to be interpreted by the opposing person; I picked up on it quick and started to do it myself by the end of the first week. The interpretation of this bobble can mean all of the above: yes, no, and maybe. Likewise, my aims was to interpret this bobble into a interactive piece which would have a magic eight ball imbedded into the head to reveal an answer and or reading of the bobble. To further engage the audience, there will be cards placed in front of the bobble head’s with questions we were posed with during our travels and projects. In terms we had to decipher these questions and learn to read it for ourselves thus this pieces creates a randomized answer, which will be different, almost every time a user interacts with it.

This project dabbles into a hybrid of Industrial Design as well as Sculpture & Installation. The ID side comes from the ingenuity and mechanics of making a bobble head along side the form and final product. However the layover between these subject matters comes from the form, as sculpting the bobble head will require the more fine arts side and the interaction design for the public interaction.

Making the bobble head I dissected a magic eight ball, three times, to remove the inner capsule to use as the answer for the top of the bobble head, the motion will resulting in a randomly generated response for every shake. I realized the capsule was large and I decided to sculpt my own face, modeling it after Aaron however there is a reason I am not a sculpture student: After three long attepts I re-rooted my direction and when for a pre-made form. I bought some Disney dolls and took them apart using brute force: they were quite resilient, I must say. Once the head was removed I took a hole saw and drilled into the top of the head the same size as the capsule as well as making a small incision, as the base was wider than the top. On the capsule I attached doorstoppers with a screw coated in plumbers tape, creating a seal. The stoppers were stretched slightly to create more movement in the head. Once inserted into the head, the body and head were filled with expansive foam to keep everything in place and together.

This project pushes the boundaries of what I normally, do in a few different ways. I made me look beyond the reliance of the studios at school and how I could appropriate objects I bought and found into a final project. This pushed the situational awareness of working in environments that may not be ideal for projects and or task at hand. It reflect a lot on what we did at Kesbo with little to no budget and using found objects to create a beautiful object in the end.

Yes – No – Maybe So

Flying half way across the world to India, it was crucial that we must enter this new world with an open mind; as soon as we shut our selves out the experience we all gained would have never existed. Before departure almost everything I heard from people were connotative and in my own mind I was picturing a very large slum essentially: even though I knew there is always a division of class. Nevertheless what I experienced was like nothing I would have imagined or read about.

Behind the scattered garbage and burning heaps, the true beauty of India belongs to its people. Coming from a western vantage, I had come in with some negative interpretations of what to expect but I was blown away when I got experience the real side of India. One of the most interesting things to me was what I called the “Indian Bobble” which consists of a head bobble with out moving the neck and just the head. This reaction is common to all people of India and a response to a question that has to be interpreted by the opposing person; I picked up on it quick and started to do it myself by the end of the first week. The interpretation of this bobble can mean all of the above: yes, no, and maybe. Like I have previously said the people of India all do this, some even did it as a understanding and or acknowledgement to what you’re asking. The mannerism of India really intrigued me and I think are something that lacks in Western Society. Another thing that I learned and would like to impose in to culture is not to say “sorry” as often: as Canadians apologize way too much. This overuse of the word “sorry” means we lose the integrity of when we are actually apologetic. Instead of saying sorry the Indian culture just acknowledges a small bow or signal to show that it was accidental; some even did the head bobble.

All and all there are many things to take away from this trip, but the people and their behaviours towards one another memorized me. I would go as far to say that I am in withdrawal and find it hard to come back to a city of individuals and not community and smiles.

Weekend in Jaipur Agra and Dehli


Following our second week in India, we took flight to Jaipur and visited the Amber Fort. We enjoyed elephant rides to the top of the hill where the building rested. Like any ancient architecture there is meticulous detail to every aspect of the red sandstone fort which was also garnished with marble. Following that we took a 3 hours bus ride as we rushed across Rajasthan to get to the Taj Mahal in Agra. It felt all to surreal to me standing infront of such a significant monument, it is recognized anywhere in the world almost immediately  So to stand infront of the building and walk aside it was spectacular.  As a added bonus we also seen John Ham, Donald Draper from Mad Men, which was an added bonus. We were there at dusk so unfortunately the blue sky’s of India were washed out but I really had hoped to capture a picture with the moon behind the building as if they were both two giant white marble moments in tandem. However it closes at 7, so we were herded out like sheep; Nevertheless a breathtaking marvel.

A New Indian Goddess: Nibeera

Yesterday on our drive to Shantivan Leprosy Center in Panvel Arielle, Arun, Felipe, Maya, Vanessa and myself were talking about the Indian Gods. We talked about the story of Ganesha and Karthik, we then asked Arun about the fables and he said they are just stories and that Hinduism is just story telling.  We then asked if anybody can create a story and we found out that as long as it has a moral and fits the general Hindi cultural basics any story can become accepted; the more popular the God, the more popular the story.

So we decided to create our own God by creating our own hindi fabel:

This young girl who was Karthik’s cousin, Nibeera, were playing together when they were children.  Nibeera’s favourite fruit was the manderina and she saw a bag and decided to eat a few.  However, the manderina she ate happened to be Karthik’s bag of favourite mandarinas.  When Karthik found out he flew into a rage and could not control his powers.  He chased her around but her being young, thought it was a playful game with her older cousin.  When he caught Nibeera, he cast a curse so that every time she cried she would cry tears of mandarina seeds which would grow immediately into a plentiful mandarina tree.  The catch to this curse was that she could no longer eat mandarinas even though it was her favourite fruit because of this it upset her greatly and made her cry.  Every time she did eat a mandarina she will become one step closer to becoming a mandarina tree herself.

Her heroic tale is to be continued…stay posted, pun intended.