PROJECT INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

What?

Project Prompt / Challenge

Taking apart a toy will show you that the inside parts can be just as interesting as the toy itself. First, you will deconstruct a beanie baby or stuffed animal, and then sew it back together (a FrankenPlushie stuffed animal mash up is totally welcome!). Then, using  investigation, observation, research, and your re-combobulated toy, design your own honored object to be drafted in Tinkercad!

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• What happens when your cherished object has changed? 

• What is your object/FrankenPlushie referencing, memorializing, or honoring?

• What do other cultures make to memorialize and honor things/people/experiences?

• What connections to honoring things or making your own rituals do you have in your own life?

• What is the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation?

How?

Strategy

PART 1: Toy surgery

1.  Read Chapter 2 from Design Basics and answer critical thinking questions.

2.  Select stuffed animal(s).

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3.  Carefully use the seam ripper to open the seams. 

• Remember: each time you successfully remove a piece, measure it and draw it. 

• This process is used to create the template.

4.  For now, as best as possible, keep the object laid out intact with open seams.

Use pins to keep the pieces together to remember where or how they connect. 

Alternatively: YES, you can sew it back together in a unique way with intention and no malice (this does include morphs). However, you should consider if this new tinkered with toy will become the basis for your final transformation project.

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5.  Fill the object with stuffing including beads, newspaper, or cotton batting.

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6.  Sew together the stuffed animal using any hand stitch. We will donate these to a local shelter!

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7. Read pages 170-175 Design Basics. Submit notes and reflection paragraph for homework.

PART 2: TinkerCAD and 3D printing your figure

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1.  Complete the 5 lessons in Let’s Learn Tinkercad! Introduction to Primary Shapes. (see PowerPoint below)

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2. For inspiration and awareness of figures from other cultures in history, look at the following examples:

• Kota Reliquary Figurines from the Met Museum

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• View Kahn Academy videos looking at Kota and Fang Reliquaries:

  • Video ​1: Kota Reliquary Figure

  • Video 2: Fang Reliquary Figure

• This example from the Fang culture (Eyema-o-Bieri) from the Brooklyn Museum

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• Research other examples of relics and reliquaries in Medieval Christianity from the Met Museum’s essay: "Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity" by Barbara Drake Boehm

Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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3. Consider idealized representation versus realistic recreation. With your peers, let's discuss what cultural appropriation ensues. Consider your own cultural experiences and rituals.  What objects and forms represent what you value and honor?  What kinds of objects  & figurines do you keep on display?

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4. Next create 3 sketches of a reliquary figure inspired by your stuffed animal.  As you work, consider the possible implications of your tinkered with toy and invent stories for it:

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• What does your object represent?

• Who or what are you protecting, memorializing, or honoring?

• What changes do you need to make to visually convey the meaning you want to convey? 

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5. Peer review these designs.

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6. Create a draft of the figurine in play-doh or modeling clay.

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7. Create your figurine using Tinkercad and print it.