MESH MASHUP: CONCEPT GENERATION + REMIX!

What does remix culture mean to me?

When I think of the word “remix” I first think of music, and how some of my favourite songs are actually remixes of their original song. To me then, remixing is about bringing two great things together, to make one great thing. It's like when you can't choose what food to eat, so you just combine two of your favourites into one. I think it can also work for making something that is bad or lacklustre and remixing it with something that makes it better, brighter or more helpful.  Remix culture is all about taking inspiration from another piece that already exists and adding onto it/changing it. 

    When I was coming up with my concept ideas, I was thinking about objects I use in everyday life, how they function, and what could be added to them to make them functional in a different way. This led me to think of many household objects that you see all the time and then making slight changes to them. I took a lot of my ideas very literally, which inspired the titles for my concepts as well. 

– OBJECT #1: CERAMIC WHEEL ON WHEELS

I chose to make this object, and most of my other things, by choosing one familiar object to me and then picking a closely related object to the first. I'm a ceramics major, so I immediately thought of a wheel for wheel throwing and pottery and then went directly to the literal meaning of wheel, thus creating the ceramic wheel ON wheels. I think this simple relationship would aid in transportation while working with clay. 

ceramic wheel -thingiverse.com/thing:144596

wheel - thingiverse.com/thing:4123402

– OBJECT #2: LEAFY ARM PLANT 

For this remix, I took a familiar object to me, a plant, and transformed the leaves into arms and hands. Leaves to me resemble hands reaching outwards and this concept leaves a lot of room to think about what it could mean. 

plant pot - thingiverse.com/thing:1280889

human arm -thingiverse.com/thing:2511612/files

– OBJECT #3: CHIC BATHTUB PURSE

This! I'm obsessed with bathtubs, and the specific shape of a bathtub means a LOT to me. I recently made myself a miniature ceramic bathtub that was a bright lavender-purple colour, so for this, I thought, what else would I love to have as a bathtub? And the idea of a purse or bag is what I thought of first. I think it would be weirdly stylish, as well as able to hold a decent amount of items.

bathtub - thingiverse.com/thing:2885534/files

purse - thingiverse.com/thing:4004543

– OBJECT #4: "SHOE SHELF"

For this remix, I had a bit more of an elaborate idea planned, I wanted to have a shelf fully integrated into a shoe, to make a shoe shelf. But I found it difficult to figure out how to do that effectively in using Rhino, I need more practice. So I decided to put the shelf in the heel of a heeled shoe since I thought that spot made the most sense to place a shelf. This creates a playful relationship, while also still being functional. 

high heel - thingiverse.com/thing:273293

shelf - thingiverse.com/thing:2580592

high top - thingiverse.com/thing:746575

boot - thingiverse.com/thing:3141844

ballet flat - thingiverse.com/thing:1030459

– OBJECT #5: "BACK" PACK

I wanted to be clever and funny with this remix, and I thought, how could I remix a backpack? The answer was by making it an actual BACK pack. I was unable to find actual backpack straps on Thingiverse, so I settled for the letter “C” to give the general idea of a strap. This is another playful idea, but would not be so functional.

spine - thingiverse.com/thing:3673863/files

backpack strap (letter C) -  thingiverse.com/thing:3373941

– OBJECT #6: GARBAGE MAN WALKING CAT

Another literal representation, for this remix, is when you think of a garbage man, you think of someone who drives a garbage truck and picks up your garbage each week. So instead, I made a literal garbage MAN made out of a garbage CAN and some legs. The object I chose from Thingiverse for the legs also included a cat on a leash, which I thought was random and fun, so I left it in there. This relationship is fun and implies that garbage people can have pets too? 

legs + cat - thingiverse.com/thing:2075551

garbage can - thingiverse.com/thing:5484794/files

– OBJECT #7: CHAIR OF CHAIRS

ANOTHER literal representational remix is a chair made out of chairs. I used three things from Thingiverse instead of two just so the whole thing was more cohesive, and I also tried to use contrasting styles of chairs as well. This reminds me of a royal throne.

chair 1 - thingiverse.com/thing:141703

chair 2 - thingiverse.com/thing:19566

chair 3 - thingiverse.com/thing:208296/files

chair 4 - thingiverse.com/thing:208296/files

chair 5 - thingiverse.com/thing:31036

– OBJECT #8: SPORK OFFICE SET

I used sporks very frequently as a child, so this is like my dream desk and matching chair. I made this concept by accident after I noticed the shape the spork chair made after I was playing around with the mesh. Even though it comes off as very playful, this concept holds a sense of professionalism and seriousness. 

spork - thingiverse.com/thing:8119desk

chair bottom - thingiverse.com/thing:19566

– OBJECT #9: MUSHROOM STREET LAMPS

For this remix, I wanted to take the idea of the “mushroom lamp” and make it into something with a different meaning, so they’re actual lamps, street lamps, that are mushrooms, not just a lamp that resembles the shape of a mushroom. I tried to find a mushroom on Thingiverse that was not cute but realistic looking. I think there is a lot to go off of this concept, with integrating certain shapes of nature into modern life. 

road - thingiverse.com/thing:2048274

car - thingiverse.com/thing:4799700

mushroom - thingiverse.com/thing:3930648/files

– OBJECT #10: VIOLIN HAND SOAP

I used to play the violin, so I tried to think of ways that the shape of a violin could be used for something else with a different purpose. The tall and skinny shape led me to hand lotion bottles, which led to hand soap. This remix creates a relationship that is playful and caters mostly to people who play music. 

violin - thingiverse.com/thing:3364453/files

soap dispenser cap - thingiverse.com/thing:3673863/files