Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010
1. Skegness2. Link3. Local Interactive Trails4. Elysium5. Self7. Second Coming8. MBTI
Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010
36 x 3 x 1.5cm upholstered fabric
Construction set reflecting the simplicity of string.
Link
Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010
Presentation boards demonstrating the conceptualization, ideation and execution of the design.
3 x 11 x 17” digital document
The “bricoleur’s universe of instruments is closed and
the rules of his game are always to make do with “whatever is
at hand.” Further, the “bricoleur” also, and indeed principally,
derives his poetry from the fact that he does not confine
himself to accomplishment and execution: he “speaks” not only
with things, as we have already seen, but also through the
medium of things: giving an account of his personality and life
by the choices he makes between the limited possibilities. The
“bricoleur” may not ever complete his purpose but he always puts
something of himself into it.
– Claude Lévi-Strauss, The Savage Mind
The students in Carol Stroeckher’s MIT lab were taught to
explore and play with knots and give feedback. Stroeckher says
that part of the enjoyment she gets from creating knot art is
how others receive and react to them, like any other practical
craft. It became quickly apparent that each child had individual
quirks in their learning process; Stroeckher states:
“Some children dealt with a knot as an integral entity pro-
duced by moving a stingle end of the string; others broke the
process into steps, following and creating procedural instruc-
tions; and still others combined pieces — smaller knots as mod-
ules — to build up more complicated knots. These approaches were
each productive, but they were also very different. The knots
demonstrate the diversity (rather than the standardization) of
styles of learning. They are objects that enable us to explore
the inner states of those who tie them.”
The diversity of results between individuals given the same
means of expression is an important artistic concept. With
methods so simple, a piece of string that is little more than
a two dimensional line, one might reach any one of an infinite
number of conclusions that each reflect the crafter in some way.
When considering the knot as
an object of design and play,
it’s re-interpretation must in
some way fill a similar role.
A solution is a construction
set intended for children that
captures the simplicty of the
string and allows the user to
free themselves from distrac-
tion and express themselves as
freely as possible.
Concept
15mm snap diameter defined the
proportions of the original
prototype. However, with 18cm
length, the thickness of the
objects obliterated interior
space when a chain was made.
Development
An initial
study in paper.
Consideration
of proportion
present from
the beginning.
Early experimental
attatchment method.
actual
size
Execution
Lengthening the object by 150%
allows for chainmaking and
better bending. Snaps on both
sides of either end provide for
potentially unlimited links
from a single vertex. The plush
construction and unisex colour
are safe and appropriate for
users of any age and gender.
Eliminating variations in
colour and shape, the user is
no longer limited only by their
selection of pieces. They are
free to exercise their brain
and follow their imagination.
Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010
System for user driven creation of urban hiking trail network as a means of reclaiming public space, based on website and marker system. Collaboration with Arron Jackson and Zebulon Zang. Specific tasks included logo design, presentation layout, direction and cinematography.
11 x 17” Infogrpahic and 2:28 digital film.
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Local Interactive Trails
Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010
4.25 x 5.5” x 32 page booklet.
Chapbook containing Sean Labrador Y Manzano’s essay Elysium: Where are We when the Wild Things Are? Typeset, arranged chronologically to provide clarity and supplemented with images and text, and made freely available for download and print. Print your own from elysium.pdf included on disc or http://ecuad.ca/~tbancroft/elysium.pdf
Elysium
1
“Let us meet our responsibilities. For people
of the Middle East have lived from war to war
with no prospect for any other future.
That dreadful cycle must be broken. Why are
we there? Well, a Lebanese mother told one
of our Ambassadors that her little girl had only
attended school two of the last 8 years.
Now, because of our presence there, she said
her daughter could live a normal life.”
—President Ronald Reagan
Oct. 27, 1983
continue to page 5
21
I hope the picketers will call it a day when I
take him to see Where the Wild Things Are
(2009). My son turns five-years-old this month
and this is my present to him. I expect extra
napkins. He will not understand my sense of
lost or melancholy nor will he see it expressed
in the darkness of the theatre. I will tell him,
buttered popcorn will be extra messy today.
This will be the second year in a row I will not
celebrate his birthday on the day he was born.
I have been given an alternate day. I am a father
of alternate days. I am an alternating father. I
am an alternate. In this capacity, I no longer feel
compelled to read the Sports page to him as I
did hours after he was born. Swaddled, and in
my arms, his mother in the bed beside us, I read
how the Boston Red Sox won the first game
of the 2004 World Series. I don't even know
which teams are contending this year.
20
Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010
4 x 6” Linocut
Print of the beast described in Y. B. Yeats’The Second Coming. Edition of 20.
Manticore
Tom BancroftPortfolio 2010
18x24” digital print
MBTIInfographic visualizing some information related to the Myers-Briggs Type Index.
The first character indicates attitude.
The individual is either Extraverted,
preferring action to reflection, or
Introverted, preferring reflection to
action. The E/I split is around 55/45 in
females and 45/55 in males, averaging
50/50 overall.
E E
E
I I
I
E E
E
I I
I
I I
I
E E
E
E E
E
E E
E
I I
I
I I
I
E E
E
E E
E
I I
I
E E
E
I I
I
I I
I
The second pairing indicatess perception:
whether the individual prefers to gather
data through Sensing what data is already
present or available through the senses, or
through iNtuition, often trusting abstract
information that can be proven through
relation or deduction. S is favoured to N
at approximately 75/25.
The third pair describes an individual’s
method of judgement, or decision making.
Some determine their actions by Thinking,
logically determining, considering and
executing moves from a detached standpoint.
Others prefer Feeling, using empathy and
self-association to determine their course
of action. The average preference is
weighted approximately 60/40 towards
Feeling, though among males the F/T split
is about 45/55, and in females about 75/25.
The last pair represents one’s approach to
the outside world, or lifestyle.
Inclination towards spontaneity and
flexibility indicates Perceiving, and
Judging individuals are generally more
comfortable with well organized schedules
and procedural methods. The P/J split is
near 55/45, on average.
P
J
J
P
P
J
J
P
P
P
P
J
P
J
P
J
P
J
J
P
P
J
J
P
P
P
P
J
P
J
P
J
P
J
J
P
P
J
J
P
P
P
P
J
P
J
P
J
The resulting MBTI is comprised of one of
the 16 possible combinations of each
preference, referred to by a 4 character
code. The MBTI can then be analysed,
compared with others and used to measure
psychological aptitude.
ET
T
EN
TJ
NE
EF
F
EN
FJ
NE
EF
F
ES
FJ
SE
E
T
ES
TJ
SE
ET
T
EN
TP
NE
FP
IT
T
IN
TP
NI
EF
F
EN
FP
NE
FP
IF
F
IN
FP
NI
EF
F
ES
FP
SE
FP
IF
F
IS
FP
SI
E
T
ES
TP
SE
PI
T
IS
TP
SI
IT
T
IN
TJ
NI
IF
F
IN
FJ
I
IF
F
IS
FJ
SI
I
T
IS
TJ
SI
N N
N
S S
S
S S
S
S S
S
S S
S
I S
S
S S
S
S S
S
N N
N
N N
N
S S
S
S S
S
S S
S
N N
N
S S
S
S S
S
F F
F
F F
F
F F
F
T T
T
F F
F
T T
T
T T
T
F F
F
F F
F
F F
F
T T
T
T T
T
F F
F
T T
T
F F
F
F F
F
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a test
used to generate a psychological profile
for an individual. It consists of an
extensive questionnaire that measures an
individual’s preference for either
rational or emotional actions and
reactions across four categories:
attitude, perception, judgement and
lifestyle. The result of each category is
binary. One does not exclude the other and
their names are specific to the test. For
example, someone with a preference for
Feeling is not necessarily worse at
Thinking. Extraverted is spelled that way
on purpose.
I
T
B
M