Animated Garbage Patch
Role:
Company:
Project type:
Date:
Student/Designer
Pratt Institute
Animation
Spring 2016
This video and subsequent models were part of my Spring 2016 studio project at Pratt Institute. For this project, I was inspired by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I was interested in the particle motion of objects in water, studying the way different material properties could create different interactions and clumping into a larger form. The video, imagery, and study models below represent design research I conducted that would inform the eventual architectural design.
Before creating animation digitally, I physically tested particle movement in water using real scraps of varying sizes, densities, and weights.
The images above are a series of study models I created out of real "garbage" particles. After floating the particles, I completely drained the water, flattening the particles into layers of varying density. To solidify and preserve each model, I poured hot wax over the resulting form that hardened after cooling, allowing me to view and study the resulting form.
Based on my study models, I created line drawings depicting various particle shapes over time. This drawing was done in Rhino, created by tracing screenshots of different moments in the video.
This screenshot from my particle animation represents the flow of objects in water. In the first video, you can see this image in motion.