INstalling ROOT BOOTS
Installing ROOT BOOTS at ITP from Michelle Mayer on Vimeo.
The Installation process took a while and this little video is just the end of the install.
I’m pretty happy with the boots, and I got a lot of great feedback at the show.
Here is a review that gizmodo.com put up…
Root Boots… Latest Sketch
This is a partial simulation of how the Root Boots will function.
Root Boots video sketch from Michelle Mayer on Vimeo.
A three dimensional bark puzzle
I have spent a lot of time lately blowing on the burnt ends of my hot glued fingertips… having a blast obsessively, meditating on the beauty of bark , trying to create the first pair of root boots. Right now I have a roughed out version of the FSR sensors built into the soles of the boots, connected to an arduino which is conected to a Pure Data patch I made, with the help of Hans-Christoph Steiner who teaches my Data Flow for Programming class. Here is the progress so far.
I am still researching ways to make mechanized moving roots, which won’t need a lot of power to operate. More to come soon!
Root Boot R & D
So I am working out possible materials for my sculptural-performance-synth-boot , as well as the animated narative which frames this root boot project.
In a nutshell, Root Boots began as an idea for an animatronic wearable sculpture.
First concept drawing
As for the inner workings… I want the boots to appear to be made of thick tree root fiber with a few tentacle-like roots that ‘root around’, seeking out the ground. I am hoping to use muscle wire to achieve the effect. I also want to have sensors on the soles of the boots which gauge how rooted to the ground the wearer is at any time, which will generate a related synthesized sound through an arduino/ xbee communication to a Pure Data synth patch.
rough diagram
Here is a cool example of what muscle wire can do
Tentative Architecture of Other Earth from Xárene on Vimeo.
This is a sketch for the beginning of an animation I am working on which follows a displaced girl who discovers a very special pair of root boots which keep her grounded and sustained during her journey to redefine what ‘home’ means.
Root Boot Animatic from Michelle Mayer on Vimeo.
