Tom Bancroft Portfolio 2010 - Emily Carr University · Tom Bancroft Portfolio 2010 Presentation boards demonstrating the conceptualization, ideation and execution of the design. 3

Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010

1. Skegness2. Link3. Local Interactive Trails4. Elysium5. Self7. Second Coming8. MBTI


36 x 3 x 1.5cm upholstered fabric

Construction set reflecting the simplicity of string.

Link


Presentation boards demonstrating the conceptualization, ideation and execution of the design.

3 x 11 x 17” digital document

The “bricoleur’s universe of instruments is closed and

the rules of his game are always to make do with “whatever is

at hand.” Further, the “bricoleur” also, and indeed principally,

derives his poetry from the fact that he does not confine

himself to accomplishment and execution: he “speaks” not only

with things, as we have already seen, but also through the

medium of things: giving an account of his personality and life

by the choices he makes between the limited possibilities. The

“bricoleur” may not ever complete his purpose but he always puts

something of himself into it.

– Claude Lévi-Strauss, The Savage Mind

The students in Carol Stroeckher’s MIT lab were taught to

explore and play with knots and give feedback. Stroeckher says

that part of the enjoyment she gets from creating knot art is

how others receive and react to them, like any other practical

craft. It became quickly apparent that each child had individual

quirks in their learning process; Stroeckher states:

“Some children dealt with a knot as an integral entity pro-

duced by moving a stingle end of the string; others broke the

process into steps, following and creating procedural instruc-

tions; and still others combined pieces — smaller knots as mod-

ules — to build up more complicated knots. These approaches were

each productive, but they were also very different. The knots

demonstrate the diversity (rather than the standardization) of

styles of learning. They are objects that enable us to explore

the inner states of those who tie them.”

The diversity of results between individuals given the same

means of expression is an important artistic concept. With

methods so simple, a piece of string that is little more than

a two dimensional line, one might reach any one of an infinite

number of conclusions that each reflect the crafter in some way.

When considering the knot as

an object of design and play,

it’s re-interpretation must in

some way fill a similar role.

A solution is a construction

set intended for children that

captures the simplicty of the

string and allows the user to

free themselves from distrac-

tion and express themselves as

freely as possible.

Concept

15mm snap diameter defined the

proportions of the original

prototype. However, with 18cm

length, the thickness of the

objects obliterated interior

space when a chain was made.

Development

An initial

study in paper.

Consideration

of proportion

present from

the beginning.

Early experimental

attatchment method.

actual

size

Execution

Lengthening the object by 150%

allows for chainmaking and

better bending. Snaps on both

sides of either end provide for

potentially unlimited links

from a single vertex. The plush

construction and unisex colour

are safe and appropriate for

users of any age and gender.

Eliminating variations in

colour and shape, the user is

no longer limited only by their

selection of pieces. They are

free to exercise their brain

and follow their imagination.


System for user driven creation of urban hiking trail network as a means of reclaiming public space, based on website and marker system. Collaboration with Arron Jackson and Zebulon Zang. Specific tasks included logo design, presentation layout, direction and cinematography.

11 x 17” Infogrpahic and 2:28 digital film.

Local Interactive Trails














4.25 x 5.5” x 32 page booklet.

Chapbook containing Sean Labrador Y Manzano’s essay Elysium: Where are We when the Wild Things Are? Typeset, arranged chronologically to provide clarity and supplemented with images and text, and made freely available for download and print. Print your own from elysium.pdf included on disc or http://ecuad.ca/~tbancroft/elysium.pdf

Elysium

1

“Let us meet our responsibilities. For people

of the Middle East have lived from war to war

with no prospect for any other future.

That dreadful cycle must be broken. Why are

we there? Well, a Lebanese mother told one

of our Ambassadors that her little girl had only

attended school two of the last 8 years.

Now, because of our presence there, she said

her daughter could live a normal life.”

—President Ronald Reagan

Oct. 27, 1983

continue to page 5

21

I hope the picketers will call it a day when I

take him to see Where the Wild Things Are

(2009). My son turns five-years-old this month

and this is my present to him. I expect extra

napkins. He will not understand my sense of

lost or melancholy nor will he see it expressed

in the darkness of the theatre. I will tell him,

buttered popcorn will be extra messy today.

This will be the second year in a row I will not

celebrate his birthday on the day he was born.

I have been given an alternate day. I am a father

of alternate days. I am an alternating father. I

am an alternate. In this capacity, I no longer feel

compelled to read the Sports page to him as I

did hours after he was born. Swaddled, and in

my arms, his mother in the bed beside us, I read

how the Boston Red Sox won the first game

of the 2004 World Series. I don't even know

which teams are contending this year.

20


Self Portrait

8.5 x 11” ink on paper

Stenciled and thumbprinted.


4 x 6” Linocut

Print of the beast described in Y. B. Yeats’The Second Coming. Edition of 20.

Manticore


18x24” digital print

MBTIInfographic visualizing some information related to the Myers-Briggs Type Index.

The first character indicates attitude.

The individual is either Extraverted,

preferring action to reflection, or

Introverted, preferring reflection to

action. The E/I split is around 55/45 in

females and 45/55 in males, averaging

50/50 overall.

E E

E

I I

I

E E

E

I I

I

I I

I

E E

E

E E

E

E E

E

I I

I

I I

I

E E

E

E E

E

I I

I

E E

E

I I

I

I I

I

The second pairing indicatess perception:

whether the individual prefers to gather

data through Sensing what data is already

present or available through the senses, or

through iNtuition, often trusting abstract

information that can be proven through

relation or deduction. S is favoured to N

at approximately 75/25.

The third pair describes an individual’s

method of judgement, or decision making.

Some determine their actions by Thinking,

logically determining, considering and

executing moves from a detached standpoint.

Others prefer Feeling, using empathy and

self-association to determine their course

of action. The average preference is

weighted approximately 60/40 towards

Feeling, though among males the F/T split

is about 45/55, and in females about 75/25.

The last pair represents one’s approach to

the outside world, or lifestyle.

Inclination towards spontaneity and

flexibility indicates Perceiving, and

Judging individuals are generally more

comfortable with well organized schedules

and procedural methods. The P/J split is

near 55/45, on average.

P

J

J

P

P

J

J

P

P

P

P

J

P

J

P

J

P

J

J

P

P

J

J

P

P

P

P

J

P

J

P

J

P

J

J

P

P

J

J

P

P

P

P

J

P

J

P

J

The resulting MBTI is comprised of one of

the 16 possible combinations of each

preference, referred to by a 4 character

code. The MBTI can then be analysed,

compared with others and used to measure

psychological aptitude.

ET

T

EN

TJ

NE

EF

F

EN

FJ

NE

EF

F

ES

FJ

SE

E

T

ES

TJ

SE

ET

T

EN

TP

NE

FP

IT

T

IN

TP

NI

EF

F

EN

FP

NE

FP

IF

F

IN

FP

NI

EF

F

ES

FP

SE

FP

IF

F

IS

FP

SI

E

T

ES

TP

SE

PI

T

IS

TP

SI

IT

T

IN

TJ

NI

IF

F

IN

FJ

I

IF

F

IS

FJ

SI

I

T

IS

TJ

SI

N N

N

S S

S

S S

S

S S

S

S S

S

I S

S

S S

S

S S

S

N N

N

N N

N

S S

S

S S

S

S S

S

N N

N

S S

S

S S

S

F F

F

F F

F

F F

F

T T

T

F F

F

T T

T

T T

T

F F

F

F F

F

F F

F

T T

T

T T

T

F F

F

T T

T

F F

F

F F

F

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a test

used to generate a psychological profile

for an individual. It consists of an

extensive questionnaire that measures an

individual’s preference for either

rational or emotional actions and

reactions across four categories:

attitude, perception, judgement and

lifestyle. The result of each category is

binary. One does not exclude the other and

their names are specific to the test. For

example, someone with a preference for

Feeling is not necessarily worse at

Thinking. Extraverted is spelled that way

on purpose.

I

T

B

M

Documents

Tom Bancroft Portfolio 2010 - Emily Carr University · Tom Bancroft Portfolio 2010 Presentation boards demonstrating the conceptualization, ideation and execution of the design. 3