The Godwit that Misses Its Flock
A 3D printed Godwit driven by migration route data
overview
Selected in NYC Media Lab's Annual Summit 2015
Role : Interface Design and 3D Modeling
Team member : Lutfiadi Rahmanto (Development)
November - December 2014
The Godwit That Misses Its Flock is a decorative art piece that takes shape of a bar-tailed godwit, which has an astonishing migration route between New Zealand and Alaska. Being cloistered in a room, this bird longs to join its friends. Alas, it can only rotate itself to the flight direction of its migrating flock.
sculpting data into AN everyday object
The idea started when Lutfi and I pondered about migratory birds, “What if Eames House Bird is a migratory bird?” A that question seems irrational. But we imagined The Eames House Bird might reside in a warm room, a convenient space would miss its flock who are embarking on a migratory journey. So we decided to embed the migration route data into the longest migratory bird route and explore the poetic side of the sculpture and its relation to human activity.
godwits' migration route
The form of the project itself is a bird model that would always point to the location of its migrating flock, like a bird compass. The images below include the bird's migration route and concept development sketch for programming movement of the bird based on the actual time interval and the direction.
3D MODELLING and printing
ROTATING MACHANISM and the structure
Above is the sketch for the wooden platform in which the bird will be placed upon. The rotating mechanism utilizes neodymium magnets that will be attached under the wings of the bird and on the custom armature. Below is the rendered 3D model of each layer of the object.
