Nataly Moreno
1. Introduction
“Custos Cavum” is an art piece that was produced by Korean artist U Ram Choe.
He began with sculpting and became interested in objects that move on their own after
taking one class in which he had to make such a piece. This piece was first displayed in
the Asia Society Museum of New York City in 2011. Choe is known for animatronics or
anima-machines – this is one of them. Choe combines kinetic art with metal sculptures
and robotics for his artwork. Choe used to work alone, but when his projects began to
scale he began needing assistants. He works with a very specialized small group of
individuals; this piece took 7 months to create with 7 assistants.
I chose to analyze U Ram Choe’s piece, “Custos Cavum”, because it brings
together various ideas. I was initially attracted to the mechanics of the piece and how it
worked, but as I looked further into the story behind the piece the creation as a whole
became more impressive.
The Custos Cavum myth goes like this:
“Once upon a time, there were two worlds.
They were connected to each other through
a number of small holes, as if the worlds
were breathing through these holes.
However, the holes had a tendency to close
up, so there were guardians next to each one
to keep them open. The guardians were
called “Custos Cavum”. They took the form
of seals and had large front teeth, which they
used to gnaw the holes to prevent them from
closing up.”
Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/mythical
-anima-machine-re_n_1093226.html
“Custos Cavum”, the Guardian of the Hole
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0ZOkpjap0
“Whenever a Custos Cavum felt the generation of a new hole somewhere, it fell
into a deep sleep. From the body of the quietly sleeping Custos Cavum grew
winged spores called “Unicuses”. These spores took flight and each flew to a new
hole, where it gave rise to a new Custos Cavum.”
Source: http://www.wordsinspace.net/wordpress/2012/01/
“As long as this continued, there would be harmony between the two realms.”
Source: http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/u-ram-choes-mythological-icustos-cavumi-at-asiasociety-museum
2. Analytical Models
How did Custos Cavnum Come into Existence?
The Asia Society Museum in New York City holds
an ongoing series known as In Focus. For this
series, an artist must choose from an existing
collection of artwork to find inspiration for an
artwork of their own; for this exhibit artists chose
from Mr. and Mrs. Rockefeller’s 3rd Collection.
Choe chose a sculpture of an Indian god: Shiva as
Lord of the Dance (Shiva Nataraja) – shown on the
right.
Although Choe’s artwork at a glance appears to be very different, it shares a lot of the
same concepts, ideas, and qualities from the inspirational art piece.
The Custos Cavnum art piece is very intricate and is made up of many different materials.
Materials Diagram
Operational Diagram: How does it move?
There is a myth behind the statue, and although Choe did not create another god, he did
create a mythical creature with an important role.
What is a mythical creature? Myth Vs. Legend
3. Idea Model
After studying Choe’s art piece, I became interested in how the Custos Cavum moves and
the mythical creature aspect of the piece. I came up with an idea model for a project,
which would combine both of these ideas along with a personal interest. If I were to
make a mythical creature, I would choose to make a mythical bird. A starting point for
the final image of the bird is shown in the idea model below. Hinges would be used on
the wings for movement, and unlike Custos Cavum and Shiva, this piece would not be in
a relaxed state, but would be in an active state. Instead of being a metal sculpture this
would be a 3D model. I have provided a 3D model of a hinge, which was created in
FormZ, then taken into Blender to render with LuxRender.
4. The proposed work is to create a 3D model of the mythical creature that can later be
printed as a bigger object that will serve as a home for wild birds; the wings would move
with the use of hinges to show that it is actively protecting the birds that live within it.
5.
The mythical bird’s name is Avi, protector of endangered bird species. Avi is in
charge of maintaining balance in the different bird populations, particularly the ones who
are in danger of becoming extinct. As the myth would have it, Avi fulfills its mission by
creating suitable habitats for birds in need.
For this project, Avi would first be modeled in 3D and later printed in a much
bigger form. The idea being that it would be placed in a location where there has been
habitat loss in order to provide homes for birds that have lost their home. Avi’s sculpture
would be hollow in the inside and have various small entrances throughout so that birds
could go in and out. Avi would provide protection for the birds within from most
predators because all the entrances would be high off the ground and small. Avi would
also flap its wings to show that it is actively protecting the bird community living within.
In this way, Avi would be able to continue its mission in a human-created physical form
helping bring balance to the populations where the sculpture is placed.
A Prototype of a Basic Door Hinge: