Week 10 : A Friendly Hand Second Iteration

This week, I focused on improving A Friendly Hand with new materials and tools that arrived last week. This process included laser-cutting and assembling the various parts. Subsequently, planning for open studio in Week 12.

Part ①: A Bigger Dual-Layer Platform

I had just received the birch plywood over the weekend, and the first thing I improved was enlarging the dual-layer platform.

The process remained the same: I edited the dimensions in Illustrator, calibrated the laser-cutting machine to suit the new material, and cut the pieces.

I also designed a little typography for 'A Friendly Hand; Staging the Mycorrhizal Network'for fun and wanted to try engraving with the machine.

Part ②: A Friendly Hand Version 3.0

After laser-cutting, I made three new paper hands using the exact same materials—paper, wall plug, grey electrical tape, and orange string. To piece the dual-layered platform together, I used a 45mm spacer that came in the package. I also began integrating the LDR with the 50mm suction cup I ordered online.

I visited Sim Lim Tower again to get additional tools like screws, nuts, more jumper wires, and breadboards—everything in threes, because I wanted to stage Ecologist Suzanne Simard's study on the Birch, Douglas Fir, and Young Fir.

This all happened over the course of a few days—because, well, there were three hands to make, and just one pair of mine.

Part ③: Planning for Open Studios

Mid-week, we had an atelier check-in where our supervisor shared some tips on setting up using wood blocks, clear acrylic, and title cards. That got me thinking about the deliverables I wanted to present for Open Studios. I knew that Dance, Forest, Dance, captured as a video, would be important to communicate what Dreaming of an Interspecies Sensor is really about.

I also knew I needed a publication to show the arc of my research and iterations. And of course, having an interactive element where people could try A Friendly Hand for themselves felt like an essential part of the experience.

Basically, it’s what I mapped out back in Week 7—just with a few thoughtful tweaks.

I spent the rest of the week ordering RJ Paper and clear acrylics, slowly piecing together a plan for how I want to show up at Open Studios.

The Rough Plan:

Ⓐ An interactive element where visitors can try choreographing A Friendly Hand using a tablet. The tablet will feature an interface that lets people adjust the animated visuals on-screen to explore different expressions of the hand.

Ⓑ A video documenting the making of A Friendly Hand and Dance, Forest, Dance— drawing parallels between the hand and the mycorrhizal network.

Ⓒ A publication compiling all my research and development—from Root Watching to Hearing Life, A Friendly Hand to Dance, Forest, Dance. This publication will include reflections, literature review, the identified research gap, and the design journey— showing how I broke down Dreaming of an Interspecies Sensor into smaller experimentations.

Ⓓ Early artefacts from the making of A Friendly Hand, including sketches, material trials, and perhaps the flowchart from Week 4 .