Susana Baker
Engaging Endangered
My Senior Project at Florida Gulf Coast University
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Artist Statement
Growing up was fun for me and I enjoyed the magic of make believe as well as the amazing thing that is our world. As a child, story telling was a big part of my life and I want to show that through my work, whether it be in 2D through photographs or 3D through sculpture. The stories we grow up with fade in their enthusiasm over time and we just see them as normal, however we do not realize how close they are to becoming fantasy. For example the story of the lion king can be taken many different ways. While some just see it as a cute Disney movie and others a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, I see it as something amazing because it has the enormous creatures that come from a place so far from me and that I can only see in pictures and the occasional zoo. Now that I am older I know that these magnificent creatures are dying out and it is not something people think about as this story and so many others regarding the larger endangered animals are so prevalent in today’s society.
I want my work to bring that awareness. I would also like to show my own life and learnings through my work and thus I have decided to create puppets and animatronics of these animals. The puppets move via stepper motors and can tell a story while reminding us of the toys we had as a child and loved so much. The movement also brings a life to each of the animals that we can normally only see in videos or in person. It is the same reason that museums have moving displays, however it is still a restricted display and very rarely interactive. I want to use these puppets as ways to bring people closer to the animals. My project is interactive as the puppets, being the main piece, are designed to be carried around. This bridges the gap between these animals and people as we would normally not be able to interact with the animals in real life.
My Process and Materials
My process for this project is simple but complicated as there are many different steps to this project. The puppet’s skeleton is made with Eva foam and wood. After the basic frame is cut out with Eva foam, including some structural details of the animal, I add any parts that are used in the animatronic aspects of the puppets such as a bike break or a stepper motor. After the frame is assembled I use air dry foam clay to add details to the pieces, then let it dry. It takes about 2 days for this to happen. Once this is done I carve out or sand down any remaining details and start adding the outer layer, being careful to keep any wires or moving parts away from the glue I use to stick on the outer layer. Before adding the outer layer I paint any spots where there will be no outer layer. The outer layer is fake fur or felt and covers the majority of the puppet with the exception of its face or lower legs. When everything is dry I add any details and then start connecting the wiring to the puppet to start programming a specific program for this puppet. The program is different for each puppet as each animal has different conditions to it even if the base program is the same. As the program is finished and loaded the puppet will only need a battery as a power source to keep it operational. The process varies a little depending on the position of the animal, how it is meant to be displayed and how the puppet is designed.
Gallery
