this project asks students to consider the formal and aesthetic aspects of producing a sculpture. along with the formal and material concerns is the conceptual – the idea. whether or not they take the content of the book as their point of departure, they are aware that all aspects of the book convey information – the message, the text, the design, the book’s history (ownership, usage and care).
the goal of this project is to produce a sculptural work incorporating technology. the technology may be subtle and/or hidden, used to reinforce or enable a non-technological theme, or may be overt and a part of the theme of the piece. in any case, it should not be “technology for technology’s sake,” but should clearly be an enabling and critical component of the piece, augmenting the experience of the viewer/participant.
the term “hack” is often in reference to a computer program that (sometimes illegally) modifies another computer program. in this case students will be hacking a toy, which may mean disassembling, modifying, adjusting, subverting, converting, altering, transforming or mutating.