Collaborative Project
Brian Chavez & Kim Nunez Figueroa
Embedded Files
Project proposal
Project proposal
Technologies: Laser Cutting and 3D scanning
Theme: Exploring Hispanic culture, spreading for uniting horticulture and native animals.
Researchable Question:
How can digital fabrication be used in tandem with traditional craft media to create physical and digital representations of culture-based folklore?
Using digital media to make physical art accessible crosses borders.
TASKS
1. Research how to section out the Mexican map into four major areas
Ways to separate:
Time Zone
Weather
Where are we going to separate them?
Folklore-based separation
2. Create a digital prototype
What “animals” look like on the map
Use Procreate to create a “sketch.”
Translate sketching into Autodesk Fusion to create a map and border
Take the Fusion sketch into Adobe Illustrator to be ready to laser cut.
3. Laser-cut map
Laser-cut all 4 sections
Make joining areas simple, so they are easy to laser cut out
Build the creature structures on top
Using airdry clay
Make sure the creatures are identifiable for the 3D scanning process
4. PolyScan
Take both individual and conjoined scanning of the end product
Take that scanning into a modeling software to create a digital deliverable
When researching our project, we realized that we needed to look into each entity within Mexico. To make the workload more manageable, we divided it into two halves and listed what the most popular folklore was within each state.
Kim's Section:
Kim's Section:
The roots of Mexican Folklore and Legends (XPMexico)
“The Aztecs, Mayans, and other notable cultures, this folklore continues to inspire and influence the cultural fabric of modern Mexico.”
Mexico has 32 Federal Entities :
The Chichimeca Giant, Nahuatlaca
The Lizard Man in the Pool
The Flying Skull in the Cemetery
Calle de la Estrella
Baja California
La llorona
The Whispering Wings
The Pirate Barbilla
Chiapas
The Eerie Cart of San Pascual
The Tisigua, Demonic Temptress
Chihuahua
The Mummy of Majalca
Pascualita
Coahuila (officially: Coahuila de Zaragoza)
The Devil's Allyway
Colima
The Bridge of Moans
The Colima Volcano
The Enchanted Serpen
Durango
Guanajuato
The Kissing Ally
Guerrero
Hidalgo
The Orb Witch
Jalisco
La Planchada
The Headless Priest
México
It's Mexico State; there is not enough information about the place to know for sure
Just group it in with the surrounding area
Michoacán (officially: Michoacán de Ocampo)
Ghost Hospital
Morelos
The Mirror Lady
The Headless Pig
My Section:
My Section:
Mexico City
The Lovelorn Nun
Don Juan Manuel and the Devil
The Ghostly Girl Who Stops Traffic
The Witch of Coyoacán
Four Legends from Mexico City, Avocado Alley - Mexico City, Legend of Don Juan Manuel
Nayarit
The Warriors and the Princess
The Mythical Origins of a Turquoise Lake
The Siguanaba
Aztlán / Mexcaltitán
Indigenous Legends from Nayarit, Mexcaltitán, home of the Mexicans
Nuevo León
Quetzalcoatl Goes North
The Sacrilegious Horseman and the Stubborn Jesus
La Casa de los Tubos
Oaxaca
The Legend of the Decapitated Princess (Donají)
The Magic Cave at Cerro Gordo
The Legend of Rooster Island
Murder on Callejón Dos de Abril
Puebla
The Little Devil in the Church of San Miguelito
The Bridge of the Evil Elves
The Fountain of the Dolls
The Black Charro
Querétaro (Querétaro de Arteaga)
La Casa de la Zacatecana
The Shadow of Emperor Maximilian
The Enchanted Bell
The House of Don Bartolo
Legends from the State of Querétaro, Legends Tour in Querétaro
Quintana Roo
Aluxes
The Huay Chivo
The Sisimite
Cenote Pueblo Fantasma
Maya Aluxes, The Huay Chivo, The Sisismite, Cenote Pueblo Fantasma
San Luis Potosí
The Old Indian Witch
The Alley of the Little Hands
Juan del Jarro
The Seven-Headed Snake
Four Legends from San Luis Potosí, Cemeteries and Legends in Real de Catorce
Sinaloa
The Three Indigenous Princesses
Silvia
San Ignacio de Piaxtla
The Treasure of the Charco Verde
Sonora
Bobok the Toad and the End of the Great Drought
The Ghosts of Magdalena de Kino
The Reptilian Man
Tabasco
The Snake Woman of La Punta
Unusual Elements of the Carnaval of Tenosique
The Ghost Cowboy
The Goblins of Mazateupa
Tamaulipas
La Planchada, the Ghostly Nurse
Pancho Rojas and the Treasure of the Cerro Partido
The Vampire Woman of San Juan Bosco Church
The Hair-Pulling Phantom of Reynosa
Tamaulipas LegendsTlaxcala
Matlalcueitl and the Legend of the Three Mountains
The Huarache Maker and the Devil
The Lost Treasure of Venustiano Carranza
Veracruz (Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave)
Diamond Alley
The Woeful Tale of the Countess of Malibrán
The Mulata of Córdoba
Chucho el Roto
Four Legends from Veracruz, La Mulata de Córdoba - INAH, Chucho el Roto - INAH
Yucatán
Xtabay
Aluxes
The Dwarf of Uxmal
Tsukán
The Legend of Xtabay, Living Magic: Aluxes, The Legend of the Dwarf of Uxmal, Fantastic Beasts of the Mayab
Zacatecas
The Black Monolith of Death
The Last Confession
The Ghostly Father and the Sacred Hosts
Calle de las Tres Cruces
Map Sections:
After we looked into the lore of each state, I then sorted the states into groups. These groups were created based on proximity and shared characteristics. The shared characteristics are listed below and served as a jumping-off point for the creatures that were then modeled on top of the map.
Northern Section (Beige)
Baja California
Baja California Sur
Sonora
Chihuahua
Coahuila
Nuevo León
Tamaulipas
Durango
Desert creatures
Witches and devils
Ghost animals
Haunted caves, roads, and abandoned places
Frontier survival and danger
Western Central Section (Red orange)
Sinaloa
Nayarit
Jalisco
Colima
Michoacán
Guerrero
Zacatecas
Aguascalientes
Volcanoes and mountains
Fire spirits
Haunted bridges and roads
Ghost priests, nuns, and wandering spirits
Cursed treasures and rural legends
Eastern Central Section (Purple)
San Luis Potosí
Guanajuato
Querétaro
Hidalgo
México / State of Mexico
Mexico City
Morelos
Tlaxcala
Puebla
Haunted cities
Colonial mansions, churches, alleys, and tunnels
Ghost women, nuns, priests, and nobles
La Llorona-style stories
Indigenous beliefs mixed with colonial history
Section (Green)
Veracruz
Oaxaca
Tabasco
Chiapas
Campeche
Yucatán
Quintana Roo
Maya and Indigenous spirits
Jungle creatures
Cenotes, rivers, oceans, and water spirits
Shapeshifters
Aluxes, Xtabay, Huay Chivo, and underworld imagery
Creating the prototype
Creating the prototype
Phase 1:
To create our final product, we decided to first sculpt the map out of clay and then scan and better render the map and the individual pieces in Blender.
Originally, we had planned to laser-cut the map out in the fab lab to give us a more precise division of the map. However, we ran into struggles with the fablab itself after having been double-booked and then not having our rescheduling approved.
With this change of plans, we decided to fully dive into the rustic artifact aesthetic we created.
We used air-dry clay to ensure a quick drying time on the sculpture and then cut out the sections once the pieces were modeled.
Each section's creature is inspired by the different mythologies of the corresponding states within that region. Our goal was to create alebrije-like creatures that acted as physical representations of the tales and legends those places hold.
Phase 2:
After crafting the map, we then polyscanned each object and placed them in Blender. In the Blender, the objects were individually cleaned, and holes were patched to create fully water-tight designs that could later be painted.
Below are the models that were created and cleaned up, alongside a 360 video of these models as well. To keep with the theme of creating a puzzle of sorts, the colors and textures of the model were kept vibrant and smooth.
Northern Section
Our maps' northern section covers the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Durango. These states were grouped based on proximity and uniting themes across their folklore.
Some of these shared themes are Desert creatures, witches and devils, ghost animals, haunted caves, roads, abandoned places, frontier survival, and danger.
Western Section
The mid-left region of the map covers the regions of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Zacatecas, and Aguascalientes. Similarly, these grouped states were grouped based on shared themes and proximity.
The themes are: volcanoes and mountains, fire spirits, haunted bridges and roads, ghost priests, nuns, and wandering spirits, cursed treasures, and rural legends.
Eastern Central Section
The Eastern Central Section of our map covers the regions of San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo, México State, Mexico City, Morelos, Tlaxcala, and Puebla. This section is one of the smallest regarding land coverage, yet it contains the most states.
With this section containing the most states, it includes various shared themes among states, those being: haunted cities, colonial mansions, churches, alleys, and tunnels, ghost women, nuns, priests, and nobles, La Llorona-style stories, and indigenous beliefs mixed with colonial history
Southern Section
The Southern Section of Mexico, which we created, is both one of the smallest sections, yet it covers the largest area of land. It includes the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo.
Some of the shared themes among their legends are: Maya and indigenous spirits, jungle creatures, cenotes, rivers, oceans, water spirits, shapeshifters, aluxes, xtabay, huay chivo, and underworld imagery
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