George Lauder Bursary - Week 7

Monday 13th July

• I went into Columbia early on Monday as we had to have a physical model of the prosthetic measuring device that we had been working on drawings for the week before.

  
  

• My original idea was a backpack device that was designed to measure the deterioration of the granite at the gatehouse.

  
  

• During studio, we were split into smaller groups to show each other our devices and discuss what was working and what could be changed to make them better. This was useful as I realised there were still quite a few things I needed to change with mine and started thinking about a different way I could make the idea actually work.

  
  

• After class, I got some food and headed back home.

Tuesday 14th July

• Today was mainly spent continuing to work on our measuring devices.

  
  

• This was when I decided to move away from the backpack idea and started developing the hourglass-style device instead.

  
  

• I still wanted it to focus on the deterioration of the granite, but I thought this new idea would be much easier to physically make and would show the process better.

  
  

• A lot of the day was spent trying things out and working out how I could actually get the water to flow through the device properly.

Wednesday 15th July

• We had a class trip to the new part of the New Museum. It was good to get out of the studio for a while and see something different. I really liked being able to look around the building and exhibitions, especially after spending so much of the week working on the same project.

  
  

• I was also trying not to spend too much unnecessary time outside because the air quality in New York was really bad because of the Canadian wildfires.

Thursday 16th July

• Today was another day spent working on the prosthetic device as well as some of the other drawings we had to complete for the project.

  
  

• One of the biggest problems I was having with the hourglass device was finding a valve that would allow me to control the water properly.

  
  

• I ended up visiting quite a few different hardware and plumbing shops around New York trying to find something that would work. It was more difficult than I expected, especially as I was trying to make the device from fairly simple materials.

  
  

• By the end of the studio week, I had a much clearer idea of how I wanted the final device to work, but I still had quite a lot to get done over the weekend.

Friday 17th July

• As I did not have studio, I went to visit the New York Public Library. It was somewhere I had wanted to see while I was in New York, so it was good to finally get the chance to go.

  
  

• I spent some time looking around the building before getting some food and heading back.

  
  

• It was also nice having a bit of a break from the prosthetic project after spending most of the week thinking about it.

Saturday 18th July

• Today, I went back up to Columbia to work in the studio.

  
  

• I ended up spending most of the day there working on my device and drawings and trying to get everything into a good position for the following week.

  
  

• I stayed until quite late at night before eventually leaving, getting some food and heading back home.

Sunday 19th July

• Sunday was pretty much the same as Saturday. I went back into the studio and spent most of the day working on my project.

  
  

• There was still a lot to get done, so I wanted to use the weekend to make sure I was as prepared as possible before going back into class on Monday.

  
  

• After another long day in the studio, I headed home and relaxed for the rest of the night.