Samsung Craftsmanship — Winter Olympic Games, South Korea (Tellart, 2018)

Craftsmanship is a kinetic installation and was a core part of the Samsung "Unbox" Showcase brand experience at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Gangneung, South Korea. To realize this project, Tellart worked with our client and lead design partner, 2x4. 

When the project was first brought to Tellart we received the following brief:

"Bring life through kinetic performance, each of the four distinct manufacturing processes Samsung uses to develop it's mobile products."

To accomplish this, we designed a "side" of the exhibit for each of those processes: 1. Aluminum Carving > 2. Metal Coloring > 3. Glass Sculpting > 4. Finishing.

Over a period of 4 months, we leveraged intense ethnographic research by traveling to Vietnam and studying Samsung's factory processes first-hand, pushed through intense product development sprints, developed rapid low volume production techniques, and maneuvered last-minute international logistics to make Craftsmanship a reality in Gangneung by our deadline.

Specifically, my role as Technologist on this project involved programming the dynamic robot arm in the Glass Sculpting zone as well as its hardware and software integration into the larger automated showpiece. Additionally, I supported across the design, production, installation, deployment, and deinstallation phases, gaining a highly intimate knowledge of each moving piece of the sculpture.

Reference and Inspiration From Manufacturing Site in Vietnam

Prototyping and Production

Installation On-Site in Gangneung

The project was co-developed by Tellart & 2x4, with approvals by Samsung Marketing and scenic construction by Chicago Scenic Studios. The technology was developed and produced by Tellart in Providence, RI and dry-fit installed at Chicago Scenic's site in Chicago, IL. From there, we packed the entire exhibition into 12 shipping containers and air freighted it to South Korea in parts, to-be assembled and installed by us on-site. The Tellart team working on this project consisted of Alice Andersen, Haiden Goggin, Lokesh Zope, Mikhail Mansion, Fletcher Bach, and myself.