Kiel Johnson Artist Lecture

I attended Kiel Johnson’s lecture not knowing what to expect and I was really blown away by his work. I really enjoy working with my hands, be it for art or just changing the oil on my truck, and Johnson’s work reminded me of that feeling. His work with cardboard showed that anything can be used as art, not just clay, paint, computers or otherwise. His drawing work is above and beyond anything I could imagine doing, but his subjects were all very interesting, simple things that he put his own person flair into. Though Johnson’s work is almost all made of paper, cardboard and ink, he also adds a digital aspect to his work by filming the creation of his sculptures and that was really the most interesting part for me. As a lecturer, I though Kiel was awesome. He seemed really down to earth and didn’t hide any of his creative process or the ideas that led up to it. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and his positive attitude really came through in the way he casually showed off his work and gave us the back story on what led him to start creating the different pieces. One of the coolest pieces that he showed was his newspaper printing press. I though that is was really cool how he went from drawing it out on paper, to cutting it from different pieces of cardboard and finally constructing it to the point where it was a moving functional piece. The icing on the cake was that he put in his own drawings on sheets of paper so it looked like his own art piece was printing out copies of his art. It really blurred the lines between functional machinery and art and I really enjoyed that.

His work on the cardboard Twin Lens Reflex Camera was the most impressive for me. As a digital media student, I haven’t been able to really create physical art and be able to justify it as digital media, but through his work being taped and timelapsed, I was inspired and shown that there is a way to bridge the worlds seamlessly. After leaving the lecture I was really refreshed to see how digital media can be used across a broad spectrum of different art. Though I did not know it then, his lecture and art inspired me to build a functional bike entirely out of wood and glue for my final project for this class. I used a GoPro to film the entire process and am making a video to accompany the physical piece. Without seeing his lecture I would have never been inspired to build the bike and though it has been a tedious project, I am really glad that his work changed the way I work.

Weeks 3-4 progress

I am most of the way through with building the bike and have been filming everything. I have a few hours of footage that I will need to cut down and speed up to show a fast forwarded version of the build for the final video. So far, the build has been pretty fun but frustrating at the same time.

So far I have built the frame, both wheels, front fork, and front axle. By next week the bike will be fully done leaving me a week to work on the final video. To complete the bike I need to make: -seat -handlebars -rear axle -pedals

Week 2 Progress

I totally revamped my design and came up with a blueprint for an all wooden bike that should be totally rideable. The bike will feature a fixed gear drive system that will be powered by pedals mounted directly into the rear wheel.

The frame will be made from 2x4's and wooden dowels and everything will be held together with wooden pegs and glue eliminating the need for any metal screw or bolts. I believe the new design will be able to support the weight of a rider and allow the bike to be fully functional.

The wheels will be created from large sheets of plywood with a single layer inner spoke design and two layers of plywood sandwiched around the spokes to form the tire. This will provide strength and a larger surface area to grip the ground when riding.

I have gotten the plywood and some 2x4's from some scrap wood piles and am getting money together to buy the dowels, wooden pegs and glue to begin construction of the bike this week. I plan to start with building the wheels and then move on to the frame and rest of the bike as time permits, filming the whole process to put the footage towards the final video.

Week 1 Progress

Projected timeline for Project #2

4/03 Create timeline for project.
Draw projected plans/blueprints for bike
Decide on materials/strategy for building

4/10 Buy/Gather wood
Being building
Film building process

4/17 Keep building and filming
Organize footage as the project progresses
4/24 Finish building bike and filming

5/01 Edit footage into short video to accompany the physical project.

5/08 Final CRITIQUE/PROJECT #2 Due


I have two different way of making the bike in mind. The first way I would use dowels of various sizes for the main part of the frame and then cut wheels out of plywood to form the big circular parts. I would use glue and wooden pegs to hold it all together and it would most likely be rideable.

The second option I would like to explore is using branches from actual trees. I would have to hunt for pieces that are close to the actual shape of the frame so I could use as few branches as possible and have nature dictate the form somewhat. This would be much less exact and be more of a show piece than a rideable bike.

I made a general plan for the size of the frame but it is just a guide so I purchase or find the wood to start building with.

Project #2 Proposal

For my second project I really want to build something with my hands. After attending Kiel Johnson's lecture earlier this semester and seeing the videos he created following his various projects I was really inspired to actually make something physical instead of just manipulating things with a computer.

Kiel Johnson's Cardboard Twin Lens Reflex Camera Time Lapse from Theo Jemison on Vimeo.

While he made all sorts of objects out of cardboard, I want to make a bike entirely out of wood that will roll and have working pedals and steering. I plan to tie my project into digital media by filming the entire construction process and making a short video showing all the steps to make each aspect of the bike and the final product. The final product will be a wooden copy of a real bike with a video to accompany it. Everything possible will be made by hand leaving all the wood raw with no paint and each process will be revealed in the video.

Project #1 - MOTION

By filming with the GoPro I was able so get a new perspective on forms of motion that many of us see every day. Combining this video footage into a moving collage and adding an original score composed of sounds from the different motions involved in the video adds another element of movement to the piece. I really wanted to convey movement through the video and with all the elements used I believe I was able to do so.

WEEK 5

Since last week I have filmed more and tested out the new mounts I got. I have also been recording sounds with the Zoom recorder that I have access to through my Music 409 class to record sounds of motion that I will mix into an original soundtrack for my piece. My original plan was to use eyecon to control the sounds, but after thinking about it I don't think it really adds anything at all to the piece and will probably just confuse viewers. Instead of using the eyecon, I plan on dedicating my time to making an experimental music piece to accompany the video which will play along with it. I plan to use sounds from the motions I filmed and mix them together into something entirely different. I got to use to new mounts on the back of a snowmobile and i think they add a very cool new view.




Im going to spend the next week getting everything worked together in Final Cut and After effects and writing the soundtrack to have to all ready for Tuesdays presentation