Extraordinary Processes

This year, students will design, build, and critically analyze three common objects - a Cushion, a Prosthetic, and a Light Fixture - each of which will be informed by the diverse structural properties of a single material: ash wood. Assignments will be three weeks long and will be executed round-robin. The round-robin structure allows students to lead the way on some assignments, and learn from the work of their classmates on others, supported by concrete data gathered from visiting artists and lab work. A larger goal of this class, then, is to compare and contrast methods of evaluation in visual art, engineering, design, and ergonomics.