David Usborne Collection objects
For the object to object brief I chose a dog muzzle and an Appalachian zither. Here are my notes from visiting the UAL archives.
Dog Muzzle:
Leather & rivets
Very worn, splitting in areas
Must’ve been photographed while laying flat, it’s much more symmetrical than the photo shows
When was it used? When was it made?
What type of dog was it made for? (Not breed, working dog, etc?)
What is this method of leather weaving called?
Not fully symmetrical
Was it used to prevent barking or biting or both?
Appalachian Zither:
Fairly rudimentary build (maybe homemade)
Has this item been repaired?
Scoop in fretboard for strumming/plucking?
Split back intentional?
Frets only on one string
Why only 3 tuning knobs and 4 strings?
Are middle strings tuned to the same note?
Why such small sound holes?
How do tuning knobs stay in place under tension?
Each section/part is made from different wood
By no means “perfect”
As for the objects I am thinking of making based off of these items, I had an idea based off the dog muzzle photograph on the UAL archives website. The way the muzzle was photographed reminded me of what I believe sound waves look like. Because of this I want to research sound waves more and find out what sound waves actually do look like, how they work, and how the human body makes sense of these waves.
I don’t have an immediate idea for an object based off of the Appalachian Zither, however before seeing the object I did some research on this instrument. It’s actually called an Appalachian Dulcimer. It derives from the Appalachian region of the US. The history of the object is very intriguing to me, I guess early settlers would harvest wood from the timber in the region and used the instrument for folk music. The community used these instruments during gatherings and they celebrated/made songs based off of their region. My mother actually lives in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains and I know a fair bit about the region, I could dive deeper into that history and where the region is today however I feel it’s better to save that explanation for the object to object brief.
