Michael Brazil

Tinker Words

Description:
Tinker Words is my attempt at pulling poetry and story telling off the 2D plane and thrusting it into the 3D world. By taking cogs that have words printed on them (or in the case of my physical prototype, taped upon them) and linking them together with adjoining sticks, the author/creator is able to make 3D models that can either be used to better illustrate the subject of the piece described by the words, or to just create a compelling figure that serves as a medium for the written word. If I were to pursue this project further, I’d like future iterations to have a greater selection of words, and sticks that are uniform in length but not necessarily color to allow for more artistic creations using color choice as well as word choice and overall shape.

Structure/Strategy:
My original strategy for this project was to attempt to create it digitally, to show what could be done with it and to not be limited by what I could create physically at present and instead be able to choose any word I wanted like an ideal version of my project.
Coming up with the words, however, was not so easy. They had to work when linked together in different ways. I don’t imagine people building too many things that have as many shared words as I did for my first example. In my opinion, it would lead to stifling creativity instead of fostering it, and that is exactly what I want to avoid.
As far as structure is concerned, there isn’t really much. Anything you can do with the written word I wanted you to be able to do with Tinker Words. While you can force a grammatical structure on whatever you create with them, you don’t have to. Like poems that are created to describe something, grammar isn’t vital. The creator is limited, however, by what word-cogs they have, and the simple logistical fact that each cog has only so many holes in which a stick can be inserted (with the word covering up one side of the cog, there are only 9 available holes). As such, the creator can only have 9 paths coming in or out of each cog.
I must also mention the fact that there is another factor that limits the creator’s creativity, namely the fact that the sticks do not bend. The regular tinker toy set comes with little joints that can be used to create a bend, but I did not want to add extra parts to my set. I felt that that would add a certain amount of confusion simply because each piece has an expressed purpose… cogs carry words and sticks connect cogs. In my opinion, joints (and other pieces) would ruin the simple setup that I created. If a set was created specifically for Tinker Words, I believe that the best idea would probably be either some sticks that bend or giving all sticks that ability (maybe with a way to keep them straight).

Evaluation/Analysis:
What worked is a simple answer. My 2D idea for my project is now a 3D model. What didn’t work is more involved. First off, I must complain about the status of kids’ toys these days. When I think about tinker toys, I remember these little wooden cogs and the wooden sticks that fit in them. When I purchased a set of tinker toys at Toys ‘R’ Us the other day, I got this tub of plastic cogs and plastic tubes. At times, when putting together my model, the cogs (which had a split through the center because they were manufactured as two pieces then put together) would bend such that I was worried the cog would eventually be unable to hold the stick. Furthermore, the plastic just isn’t as appealing to look at as the wooden versions I remember.
The sticks being of different length also became an issue. I wanted to use all the same length of sticks originally, but when I saw that that wasn’t the case, I thought that maybe I could use certain colors to signify certain relationships, i.e. pink connects adjectives with noun, green connects noun with verb, etc. That didn’t work because, with sticks of different length, the cogs wouldn’t fit together like they should. I then tried to use as many of one size as I could before moving on to the next size up, but I would run out and not be able to finish a section. With some careful planning, I was able to redo portions of it so that it could be broken up into sections, which also made it easier to transport. I think that I would rather have the sticks be the same color choices as in the tinker toy set that I purchased, but all the same size, that way the creator can choose the way it is set up based on what they want the final version to look like, and not be constrained by the necessity of picking certain length sticks at certain times. Another option could be to have multiple lengths like the current set, but have the same color choices for each length.

In the end, I believe that my final iteration of my project somewhat resembled what I had originally imagined, but not close enough to feel truly satisfied. Without a more substantial financial investment on my part, I think I must leave this project and go on to the next.