“The machine stops”
set model
This model is based off of "The Machine Stops” by E. M. Forester, in which civilization forever lives in isolated underground cells that are beginning to decay, all run by the decomposing "Machine”. I decided to take a twist on the story in my model by presenting the machine’s downfall, as the result of its struggle with a rouge group of humanity. This idea came from the main character mentioning he hears whispers of humans on the surface, and I believed it would be interesting if that line was taken in a literal way.
Draft models
The room was emphasized throughout the story to be hexagonal in shape, to support one occupant, and to facilitate with the push of a button to deliver all the occupant’s needs. To address the idea of the occupant having delivered items arrive in their room I decided to portray the possibility of small compartments of the room being rotated vertically to deliver goods from elsewhere. To execute this idea, I used magnets to support small triangle spaces that could be flipped to cover the gaping cavern to the rest of the system and provide a shelf or could be reversed to open to the space below for requested deliveries. As the bed and bath were said to appear from the structure, I put two compartments beneath the main room that would store them when not in use.
Autocad floor plans
Final Model
For the final model, I decided to embellish the ceilings and floors with strips of aluminum foil that I painted to appear as though they were oxidizing iron. I also included silver painted paper tubes up to the magnetic doors, to display how occupants received what they requested at the push of a button. To display how the destruction of this underground world was not of natural processes but of sabotage, I made a spider like robot out of clay and made a toothpick to look like a primal spear driven through its head. Representing the struggle between humanity and the artificial, as well as taking inspiration from a portion in the story where the main character suspects he hears whispers of humans still on the surface of Earth. To create the soft glow that illuminates the main room, but an unidentifiable light source as stated in the text, I made the walls of the main compartment out of thin trash paper which I spray painted silver. I then put little tea candles in three compartments which I made sedentary without the addition of magnets, so the light would radiate through the screens.
