By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Mechanical engineering students in a Washington State University Tri-Cities capstone course worked with a university arts professor to design and construct a moving tree sculpture that presents the unfortunate realities of the use and discarding of plastic in today’s society.

Sena Clara Creston, clinical assistant professor of fine arts and digital technology and culture at ���سԹ�, had the idea to create an installation of an artificial tree that, at first glance, welcomes the viewer in with its beauty and reverence, but then encapsulates the viewer and presents the realities of how plastic is used across the world.

For the project, titled “Willow of the Waste,” Creston worked with undergraduate mechanical engineering students to come up with the mechanical design of the tree, which stands approximately eight feet tall and moves gently as though it is breathing. When the viewer approaches, the branches contract, encasing the viewer in a shell under the branches. Upon closer look, the viewer can identify that the “beautiful” leaves, trunk and branches are made of commonly used plastics such as containers for water, grocery bags and others, presenting the harshness of the fact that plastics will outlive most materials on earth.

“When it breaths and showcases natural movements, it is calming and intriguing – it causes people to want to look closer,” Creston said. “When they get closer, they see the materials and the impact that these have on our environment.”

Creston said while plastic has served a utilitarian purpose, and that even as it presents a beautiful material sometimes, it doesn’t degrade, and will outlive many natural and even man-made structures.

“With the Willow of the Waste, it’s art that is made out of this beautiful translucent material, but at the same time, it’s trash. It’s the cleanest garbage,” she said. “And whereas artistic works that feature paint, buildings and even the natural world may decay, this tree is made of immortal plastic. For all intensive purposes, my tree will last longer than any painting. That’s a devastating reality to reflect upon.”

Interdisciplinary partnerships

Creston said working with the engineering students presented a unique opportunity to blend utilitarian skill through engineering with an artistic approach that allows the viewer to reflect on an important topic that concerns today’s world.

The partnership resulted after she spoke with Changki Mo, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who presented the project as an option to his students for their capstone engineering senior design course. The students ran with the project, taking into consideration the artistic components of the tree that also served a functional purpose. The student team consists of Tyrell Turner, Elvin Munoz, Gabby Sanchez, David Garcia, Moises Pinon and Aljon Salalila.

“I’m so impressed with this team – with them thinking about the project conceptually, the necessity of the user experienced and with them thinking about the mood of the piece,” Creston said. “They were truly able to think beyond the fact that is a machine, but that it is also an experience. They went above and beyond. I couldn’t have done something like this without their help.”

Getting creative with engineering

The engineering students said they enjoyed the fact that they were able to be creative with the project using their skill in engineering.

“With the artistic aspect of this project, it has been nice because it allows us to put our own creative spin on how to do things,” said Tyrell Turner, a senior mechanical engineering student at ���سԹ�. “We were able to do the mechanical part and now she has the materials that she will cover it with based on how she wants it to look. It has been fun blending the two together.”

Engineering student David Garcia said they had to overcome a number of challenges to make the project a success, from making small changes to ensure that the movement of the tree was natural and believable, to having to recut and rearrange specific parts, to learning the electrical components of how to make it operate as a “breathing” figure. All served as learning opportunities about overcoming road blocks and challenges.

“It’s been a journey, but it’s all come together now,” Turner said. “We’re all excited to see it all come together and for it to get displayed.”

To be featured at ���سԹ� symposium

Creston said she is still working on the plastic ornamental aspects of the tree, including the leaves, bark and others, but that those will be completed shortly. The base structure of the tree, however, will be on display during the Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition at ���سԹ� from noon – 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, in the ���سԹ� Art Gallery in the Consolidated Information Center.

The tree will eventually become part of an immersive environment known as “Machinescape” that features a range of mechanical and robotic figures that all feature the same types of translucent plastic. Creston recently completed another figure, which she calls the “Huminal” that will be incorporated into part of the scene.

By Maegan Murray

RICHLAND, Wash. – Neon rainbow pathways, smoldering ember-lit caves, eerie forests and bridges that lead to mystical lands, are just some of what individuals experience in virtual reality environments created by students as part of a fine arts sculpture course at Washington State University Tri-Cities this semester.

Jonah Firestone, assistant professor of education and director of the Simulation and Integrated Media for Instruction Assessment and Neurocognition (SIMIAN) Lab, first approached Sena Clara Creston, clinical assistant professor of fine arts and digital technology and culture, this semester about using the virtual reality technology in the lab as a means for student course work in the arts.

Creston decided to have her students explore the medium to create 3-D settings that can then be enjoyed and explored by others.

She said typically with art, students are limited in what they can create, as it has physical and monetary limitations. Using Google’s Tilt Brush program in virtual reality, however, students can create 3-D masterful creations that extend beyond what is physically available in the traditional art sphere.

“It’s an opportunity for students to create within the parameters of their imagination, rather than within their physical parameters,” she said.

Using imagination to explore beyond physical limits

Students worked in three teams, each group intricately designing and planning for what they would include in their environments. Using basic tools, much similar in scope and style of the Paint program on the Microsoft operating system, the students created complex worlds, each with their own flare and style that encompassed 360-degree views of colorful landscapes.

Student Athena Marquez said even though the parameters of the program were simple in concept, it forced them to use their imaginations to bring scenes and objects to life.

“It’s really freeing,” she said. “You had to use your imagination to create a whole environment.”

One of the teams created a world featuring neon and bright pulsating lights, rainbow paths, banana peels and monsters, inspired by that of Nintendo Mario Kart’s rainbow road. Another group created an enigmatic world that featured a dark and mysterious cloud-like environment featuring archways of trees that led to a cave that showcased flickering golden embers. The last group created an extravagantly detailed dual environment that first welcomes the viewer into a cloud-like nebula that then encourages the viewer to enter into a fantastical forest featuring rich trees, waterfalls, pools and other features.

The students were required to spend a minimum of 20 hours in the lab, but many ended up spending more than 30 hours working on their environments.

A hands-on, enriching experience

“I didn’t know what to think about it, at first,” fine arts student Audrey Danielson said. “But as soon as you started doing it, you become crazy about it. It definitely gave me a great perspective on what is possible with art. There is so much space and you’re free to create these large environments that other people can then explore.”

Student Adriana Iturbe said what she enjoyed most about the project was the fact that it blends elements of art with elements of technology and engineering.

“I think this is something that many more students should experience,” she said. “As an engineering major, what I like is seeing and exploring the connections between disciplines and using those different disciplines to bring a project to life. This project really does open your mind to other experiences.”

Student Adam Whittier said he hopes the opportunity is extended to students from a variety of different backgrounds, as it provides a learning experience like no-other that is useful to the students’ diverse academic tenure.

“There are so many capabilities,” he said.

Creston is now partnering with Bob Lewis, associate professor of computer science, and his graduate student Antonio Ledesma, on an interactive virtual reality art environment. Lewis is planning on teaching a course to program interactive environments. Creston plans to partner with him and his students to conceptualize, design and program these interactive environments.

“We want to make these environments interactive, instead of just static,” she said.

For more information on the SIMIAN Lab at ���سԹ�, contact Firestone at jonah.firestone@wsu.edu. For more information on the digital technology and culture program at ���سԹ�, visit /cas/undergraduate/fine-arts/.