Project #1 - Sam R

Small World - Rework

After considering the critique, I found that the object works better lying on its side rather than sitting. You're able to have more walking space and experience the space more horizontally, which allows for more exploration. I was able to use the angle grinder to cut a hole out on the side of the first aid kit lining it up with the middle of the spine, where the heart would sit right in the middle of your view when you looked in. I thought the background lights I had already installed would be enough to light up the room, but was too dim, so I installed two spotlights on the wall of the entrance so they're hidden when looking in. 

Small World - Artist Statement

2/9/2026

    I chose to turn a first aid kit into a portal inside the human ribcage. the mediums I chose to work with was a metallic container (first aid kit), steel rod, tissue paper, yarn, string, and sculpy for the heart, painted with acrylic. the purpose of the work was to show a connection between digital and organic in this work I chose to specifically tackle humanity's relationship with technology. this day and age it seems like there is that connection all around us no matter where we go its almost makes things more complicated but we push to keep producing more and more technology because humans are curious and we want to see how far we can bend light to our will. its becoming a part of us and I wanted to emphasis that point with this piece. 

    I started the piece thinking about what represents the organic self and a first aid felt like a perfect example to use in terms of a lifeline or something we sometimes rely on to stay alive. the steel for the ribs felt perfect as a mediator between organic and digital, not quite digital nor organic but somewhere in the middle. I wanted the heart to be taught with strings hanging from each rib to show tension within the piece. the lights meant as a digital component, something you don't usually find within the human body but the materials you would find within a PCB, something that would connect the two worlds.

    I think this piece mainly comes from my younger self's struggle to detach myself from the digital world. I was introduced to computers at a very young age and they were so fascinating to me that they took over my life for a long time. its all I would think about and be curious about. I've both learned a lot from living within the digital environment for a while and missed a lot of opportunities because of it. I don't regret it by any means however, this piece was meant to explore those feeling I have towards this world I used to live in. 

Small World - Fin

2/9/2026

I ended up spray painting the rib cage, I was not able to find white but I found this grey color that looked more boney than a white would and a darker palette I believe servs better with all the other darker colors in it thus creating a darker mood which is what I was going for. I added colored tissue paper with glue over some balled up tissue to make it look more organic as opposed to a flat surface and a few yarn strips to make it look like veins are growing on the sides. the lights were added under and before the tissue paper. the ribcage was added and the heart was painted using acrylics. I was able to tie the heart to the ribs using red string and superglue. looking back I feel like I should have used a more maroon string to tie it so it would match the rest of the build, the bright red sticks out more than I would have liked it too. 

Small World - Continued

2/5/26

The big thing that changed this week is the container that the project is sitting inside of. originally thinking about the first aid kit that looks like a climbing bag (which it is) but it would be too complex to disfigure or think about a room to enter with a zipper and having to cross over it and whatnot. the object changed to a metallic first aid kit. 

Scale is not really changed for the most part, however my original plan with the steel ribcage was perfect semicircles around the thicker steel vertebrae but I thought it looked not human enough and bend it accordingly as seen in the above image. below is the original.

this was able to reinforce the more organic feeling I'm trying to go with in reference to Nam Jun Paik. the steel also works as inorganic material to appose the organic human body.

    

The heart portion has been started and worked on, I had a few troubles thinking about how thread would attach to the heart and to the rib cage but after working with the material I found out I could just pierce the heart all the way through and add some hooks on the outside. I thought it might detract from the overall shape of the heart but in the end you cant seem to notice too much (it helps that there's a lot of visual commotion within a heart to begin with). 

NOW, what Im thinking about is making the ribcage look more ribcagey before I attach all the threads and permanently fix the heart to the ribs. I was first thinking about adding white spray paint to make it look like bone but then after talking to skylee she was like "nah that's gonna look cheap" and i was like "damn your right" so now my new idea I want to test out is doing a white acrylic patina to give it a whiter look yet have the steel material come through, that way the opposition of organic and inorganic material is still apparent within the object and it doesn't look cheap. something I'm thinking about im a little unsure of is the use of light and covering the inside with some red tissue to make it feel more like your inside someone's stomach. I think the light would be a good motif in showing a digital component within the piece. 

Small World - Project Ideation

1/27/26

Artist of interest: Nam Jun Paik

I chose Nam Jun Paik because of his interest in technology. something about the immense amount of change in how we think because of the internet and modern technology that interests me so much. Nam Jun Paik uses box TVs in a lot of his work to show a juxtaposition between natural and digital, spiritual and digital or travel and connection. 

Travel and connection

natural and digital

Spiritual and digital

the following is a few angled pictures of my found object. the first aid kit as the vessel for what I want to represent the human body. The object is roughly 12in x 7in x 7in with room to grow.

 here is the concept for what I want to put inside of the bag. as you can see I want this concept to bring forth and question our use of technology, not to necessarily bring shame or praise to the concept but to bring forth the entanglement of the human experience with this new found tool and its power and get people thinking more about its role in our life. especially now with increasing technological advancements as to say what is making us so curious about 1s and 0s. maybe its humanities attempt at understanding itself? 

In this image I want to draw a connection between the human life and the digital experience. I am thinking that the rib like structure lining the bag will be made out of metal while the heart in the middle may be made of wax as well as the TV's. or possibly cardboard as i dont think box tv's that small are possible. I also enjoy the thought of having the heart suspended within the ribcage with tight threads so as to say this is what is grounded while the TV's may be looser and droopy as to say "I'm slowly pouring myself into this vessel" 

You’re clearly thinking seriously about the relationship between the body and technology, and the first aid kit as a stand-in for the human body is a strong starting point. Your references to Paik make sense conceptually, especially the tension between the organic and the digital. Right now, though, the idea is reading more as an object with internal symbolism than as a miniature installation.

As you move forward, I want you to think about how the inside of the kit functions as a space rather than a container. How does the viewer encounter this as a room or environment, even at a small scale, rather than as something to simply look into? You don’t need to abandon metal or welding, but be careful that material skill doesn’t take over at the expense of spatial experience.

Focus on how the viewer’s eye enters, moves through, and understands the interior as a constructed space. That shift will strengthen the piece without requiring you to change the core idea.