I love the tip… the smell… so sweet.

The end of the school term means a crack-down on those I’ll-just-do-it-next-week assignments. The hole I had dug myself was looking more like a grave. Before getting accepted to this course I wanted to make a short film looking at comparisons between NZ’s native bush and its urban counterpart – through time and through levels of impact. I got as far as a short messy clip before I got accessed to the course and decided to choose an easier project.

A new public rubbish bin design, made completely from rubbish – old bikes to be specific. I thought I could be clever and finish the prototype in 1st semester, leaving me less to do when the NHFC course started. My tutor was all for it too, until he saw my prototype and shuddered, claiming to be oblivious to our secret ploy to hide it and it miraculously appear the day it was due. I entered Nikau Bicyclia into a recycled art competition with 2 other design students and all of us received prizes (as there were only 3 entries in our category but we won’t mention that out loud).

So roll round September and there I am rummaging through the rust-splattered tip-shop. As I drove away with 2 broken bike frames, and the tip-shop lady waved having just ripped me off $8, I felt a strong shudder run through me. CHANGE GEARS! Been driving for 7 years but never touched a manual. This will no doubt be a reoccurring point throughout all my posts. But really its just a cry for helpful tips – teaching yourself has its limitations.


Think new life-cycle (how punny) of materials, think irony and metaphors, think city council proposal (or just slap me in the face and shout what-the-hell-were-you-thinking!)

A week later and like magic *POOF* a new prototype is born. Yet the fact that I’m the only person in the whole department to have no marks or feedback for a years worth of work is not exactly confidence building for my final mark. Words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated as that little voice in my head is simply whistling and trying to avoid the subject. I have just finished a 18 page report (mainly pictures) going over the whole years process, but even I don’t want to read it – funny to think that was me inviting you to ask to read it if you want to find out more…

So that was about 30mins ago, and now its time to focus on posting about the times that have stolen all that so-called free time and left my blog full of tumble-weed.