Prometheus' Gift

PROMETHEUS

Zeus’s campaign against the Titans - the parents to his species, had finally ended. Not all the titans were killed as some of them decided to live by Zeus under his throne. At this time, Heaven and Earth were places for all the gods to roam freely but Zeus grew tired of this as his ambitions needed more than just exploring the earth. Other gods who were beneath him had mortals’ beings of their own to command and enjoy, so he decided that he should have a new being greater than the others to be made in his image.

Prometheus being a friend of Zeus and a titan of great power and craftsmanship, he was chosen as candidate to create Zeus’s plans. His task was to create a species in the image of the gods out of clay and water. They would live and die and bear little power other than the consciousness Prometheus would grant them. Athena was summoned by Zeus, and it was her job to breath life into the small clay beings. Each god was amazed by the beings, so much so that when Zeus considered it, he feared they may rise to challenge them one day. He imagined that this would happen if they mastered fire, and so he decreed that they must never have it.

After the creation of Zeus’s Human beings, Prometheus grew fond of the humans and decided he would break the rule by Zeus and give them fire so that his creations may reach their potential.

The allegory describd by Chat GPT goes as follows:

“The Symbol of Enlightenment: Some interpretations of the myth see Prometheus as a symbol of enlightenment and intellectual progress. In this view, the gift of fire represents the ability to reason and think for oneself, and Prometheus is admired for his role in bringing this gift to humanity.”

Quote OpenAI’s ChatGPT AILanguage Model, Prompt “Elaborate on the ways prometheus’ story has been interpreted” 03/23

While there are many interpretations of the story, the one that best translates to a design idea is the idea that prometheus is ‘gifting fire’ for others to use and enjoy. In this way a method of using skin and light that opens up is an exciting prompt for a design

The myth takes place in Thrace - an ancient area of land divided between modern day Turkey, Greece & Bulgaria. It was where the gods met to come together and create the

ENLIGHTENMENT

The Ancient Greeks who created these myths and lived by them were a developing civilisation that were experiencing the benfits of enlightenment. This was in the form of settlement, Mathematics, Philosophy, Architecture and Politics

DEITYS

Gods and People had an important and strong connection to one another in ancient greece. Not only did they tell stories, they acted as moral guides and explanation for creation. In this image, a greek man consults an oracle - A young woman who can look into the future

THE EXPLORATION OF MI D JOURNEY

THE GIFT

The image above depicts Prometheus taking the fire he intended to give humanity. While his legacy was the creation of humans, the art reflects the most important component of our creation. His gift of fire or “conciousness”.

Here I wanted Midjourney to bring to lift these characters in an equal setting of portraits. It is important that Zeus have a powerful image representing him while prometheus was next to him. For the First People, they needed to mimic their creator Prometheus by being surrounded by flora. They then needed the hint of fire that showed they were embracing the gift prometheus had given them

PROMETHEUS STORY

01. LOCATION

Zeus and Prometheus meet in ancient Thrace to create the first people.

RELATIONSHIP

Zeus and Prometheus are a different species. Zeus is an olympian God while Prometheus is a Titan from the age before. Once enemies they are now good friends.

Zeus, seeing the amazing creation of man bans their use of Fire, for fear they may one day rival him.

Given enough time, Prometheus grows particularly fond of his creations. So much so that he sees their potential for greatness and he no longer wishes to see them held back by the rules zeus has set.

CREATION

By a river rich in clay and minerals in Thrace, prometheus works tirelessly from morning until late afternoon creating hundres of people in clay form. Each vary in color, shape and features. Zeus brings them to life before their eyes.

Finally with the Gift of Fire, the humans rejoice and begin to warm themselves. They use the fire to innovate and feel ambition. Their conciousness is finally their own.

Furious, Zeus find prometheus and punishes him for disobeying

ENLIGHTENMENT

Humans with the help of Prometheus are enlightened and he is immensely proud of his creation.

02.

03.

04. LOVE

05. FEAR

05. PUNISHMENT

06. FIRE

07.

SKIN & BONE

The model is a combination of skin and muscle. The idea being that within the skin of the structure, there is a gift of light that has to be released from within. This is graphically illustrated as there is no light source in the physical model.

C LOSED OPEN

C LOSED

By pulling on the string (muscle), the structure is closed and hidden from view. in this way we are banned from experiencing it.

By releasing the string, the object slowly opens to reveal a gift of light.

GEOMETRY & EFFECT

01. Origami Waterbomb Pattern 02. Simplification of Form 03. Further Simplification

ages of motion within the Shape

GEOMETRY & EFFECT

Figures 01. to 04. Demonstrate the transition of the the initial geometry (waterbomb origami) down to its constituent elements. Each figure was explored however the simplification of the geometry down to one individual moving part was chosen over all other options due to the simple solution it offered.

Figures 03.1 to 03.6 show the movement of the individual part on its own. Because of the relatively simple mechanics innate to the object, the potential to explore and tell a narative through its opening and closing motions was noted.

As a result, the idea was further explored as a modular ceiling that can open and close to reveal a light that acts to follow anyone who walks underneath it.

VARIATION & MECHANISM

VARIATION

Each Origami variation had positives and negatives that determined whether they would be used or not. Both Figures 01. & 04. created shapes that could offer an opening “gift of light, but where determined too difficult to be made into models. Figure 02. explored the familiar waterbomb Shape but was an elongated version. While a viable option on paper, it proved to be too delacate to operate in physcal the physical model. Figure 03. was ultimately chosen for it’s simplicity and easily manipulated geometries.

MECHANISM

The mechanism with whih each module is operated can be seen below. From left to right, the operation of a rack and pinion gear system is used to dictate the operation of the device. As a stepper motor’s rotation increases, the device is gradually opened from 0 degrees to approximately 80. Towards the bottom of the device, a circle can be seen to indicate the brightness one may experience as it openes to reveal a light.

ATTACHMENT & IMPACT

To mimic the allegory of Prometheus’ gift to humanity, The lights are to be suspended from a high ceiling. The key idea here is that the ‘gift of fire’ shines from above as a reference to the heavens from which it came. Moreover, the Light is also following the user, but dimming in their absense. Much like Zeus’ attempt to ban fire from humans. The gift had already been bestowed upon us and as a result will always follow in our wake.

While this solution to attatching a lighting system is basic, using only two hooks allows for a simple and adaptable deployment of the lighting objects.

a snapshot of the system, one can see how an individual moving through the space remains a subject of interest and is consistently gifted the light from above.