AVA GARFINKEL
This project began with my desire to create a piece of art for my home inspired by Avatar the Last Airbender, a favorite TV show of mine. I had wanted something that represented this interest of mine for a long time, but most of the merchandise I found was either too childish or overly obvious. It was important to me that this piece was clearly inspired by Avatar and was recognizable to anyone who had seen the show but was also interesting and a beautiful piece of art to those who had never watched it. In addition, I wanted the final result to fit the aesthetic of my home. My final constraints were that I wanted the piece to be three-dimensional and unique, and would ideally have a functional aspect to it so that it didn’t end up as clutter or trash.
RESEARCH
My research mostly consisted of me rewatching scenes from Avatar the Last Airbender to determine what themes and parts of the story were most important to include in a final product. In addition, I researched examples of home sculptures or furniture that contained artistic elements.
Avatar the Last Airbender mood board
From Legend of Korra
KEY THEMES
POSSIBLE MEDIUMS
Traditional Japanese artwork
Juxtaposition between darkness and light
Cyclical nature of the Avatar
Spiritual imagery and characters
Chairs/stools/seating arrangements
Desk/table
Hanging fixtures, clock
Lamp/lampshade
PROCESS
I began identifying what parts of the story from Avatar the Last Airbender I wanted to include, and ended up with 10 distinct scenes that told the story of the Avatar. With this number in mind, I chose a dodecahedron for the shape of the lamp so that all 10 scenes could be displayed in chronological and circular order. The dodecahedron shape also allowed the lamp to be interesting from all sides. Next, I began the sketching process and designed 10 unique pieces of art in Adobe Illustrator depicting each important scene that could be laser cut onto each side of the dodecahedron.
Concept sketches
Face designs
A prototype was made out of paper which helped me determine what parts of the design needed to be edited. The largest design edit I made was the size of the final product, which needed to be shrunken down to appropriately fit on a table since the lamp would be attached to a cord.
I chose wood for the material of my final project because it was sturdy enough to support all my designs while still being light and easy to work with. I began with cutting out all the designs and pentagon sides on a laser cutter. Once cut, I sanded each pentagon by hand so that each edge was at a 32 ̊ angle. This would make it so that each side fits together nicely without gaps in-between.
Once each side was put together using wood glue, I used wood filler to cover any imperfections between the edges. The main part of the lamp was sanded, and the next thing to do was to make a base for the lightbulb.
For the base, I purchased a small cylindrical lightbulb stand that had a power cord already attached to it. I then created a wooden pentagon fitted around the center of the lightbulb stand so that it integrated well with the rest of the lamp. Once again I filled in any imperfections with wood filler and sanded the base down.
Once the base was complete, I used wood glue to fasten it to the main body of the lamp. For the final steps, I stained the main body of the lamp and carefully painted the base black.
PRODUCT
The final product is a beautiful lamp and piece of artwork that I can display in my home as an homage to Avatar the Last Airbender. If I were to do this project again, I would try to simplify the process so that this lamp would be easier to manufacture on a larger scale.
