Project 3 Artist Statement

This final project was inspired by my original goal for taking the class: to make my ceramic sculptures move. An expansion of project 2, I included 6 servo motors that react when a person touches the metal piece, which is a diy capacitive touch sensor. The form of the sculpture is inspired by particular species of carnivorous plants, such as drosera and pinguicula, as well as sea anemones. The touch point is meant to suggest the way drosera flowers, where it puts out one long flower stalk above the plant so that pollinators are not caught in its sticky leaves. When a person touches the sensor point, the fronds emerging from the main body of the sculpture will twitch and jerk, as if the creature is either startled or excited to register your presence. The material of the fronds also glow in the dark, meant to add to the slightly eerie aesthetic, but it does not glow well. My overall goal for this project was to create something that suggested a space between enticing and humorous, and the slightly unsettling. I wanted to evoke the feeling in the viewer that they really wanted to touch the object, but were a little afraid to. I also wanted to gracefully integrate the electronics into the form so that they could not be seen. I think I was successful and I am looking forward to continuing this exploration.