Using both physical drawing and 3D modeling and digital fabrication, we took a simple object, the C and C# keys as they are the most recognizable silhouette on the piano, and transformed it into a small representation of using the familiar tools that both of us were used to in order to make an object that represented something wholly unfamiliar to the both of us. Representing ourselves using our favoured techniques traditionally associated with still images, we represent the motion that is our life through an object associated with sound and the associated vibration and movement. We Decided on our Methods of representation of the piano key in order to have the traditional, the digital, and the physical which encompasses both the art and technology that is a part of us.
By exploring an unfamiliar object, we were forced to research its structure and layout. Technical skill was required of us to be able to draw out the exact C and C# key. This began the first of this three step process. The first, a sketch serves as a rough draft or blueprint of the keys. Next, it fuses into a 3D rendering on the computer as a model for what the object will actually look like. The final step, the keys have been created; a 3D printing of both the piano keys joined together to form the finished product. By laying out the process with which this piano key was developed, we wanted to display the true level of complication behind this seemingly simple object. The Piano key was chosen as the specific object we wanted to use because of it's simplicity, iconic representation of sound, and by presenting it in still images, separate from all the other keys on the piano, we created a stillness in something that is associated with motion and sound to contrast the fact that what we do is only a part of who we are. The piano key, silent in the face of these images, is an incomplete representation without the sound and dynamic styles usually associated with it.
