Past Work - Selfie
Almost completed project
This is a sequel of "On a Roll", part of which involved making a papier-mache mask of my face and making the eyes move. I decided to put the mask and eyes in a different setting - in a box lined with mirrors and position the whole thing at head height so that viewers would see their own reflection with "me" observing from the side.
I wanted people to think about self consciousness, particularly with regards to their own appearance. Hence the title.
Here's a link to a video of the almost completed project: https://youtu.be/qyeJOTDl85s
"Almost" - I haven't decided whether to varnish the outside of the box, and I need to fix it to a wall at head height. Many thanks to Nigel Phillips, who made a lovely job of making the box for me.
My original sketch. I ended up removing the top, to let the light in, and eliminating the shelf above the mechanics.
I spent a lot of time trying to make the wooden worm gear shown in this photo. I cut 7 discs of plywood, glued them on to a dowel and then smoothed them off on a lathe. I made a a jig on top of an improvised router table to cut the threads on a spiral using a router.
The photo above is a view behind the mask showing the worm gear and the mechanism that swivels the eyes back and forth. I'm rather proud of inventing this - and also of designing the whole thing so that I could dismantle the mechanics if refinements proved necessary - which was often the case