"I Come in Peace" Prepares for Lift-Off

By Katie Phelps, Curatorial Assistant/Visiting Artist Coordinator 

Last week I caught up with one of our teams from Federal Way High School, who designed a diorama for the Kids Design Glass piece Tis Ausome Landshark Ausomeness. This week, I chatted with Tran Chau, Edward Garcia, Peter Gitau, Paolo Honrade, Robert Hughes, Aaron Mathews and Jeremiah Mored who created a futuristic spaceship for I Come in Peace.

Tran Chau, Edward Garcia, Peter Gitau, Paolo Honrade, Robert Hughes, Aaron Mathews and Jeremiah Mored pose with their diorama.

Describe the materials used to make your diorama.

We used pink insulation foam to sculpt the chair and the front console of the diorama. The floor was constructed out of XBox motherboards, and we used the pieces – USB ports, power cells, and so forth – to decorate the console. We stripped old wires to place on the outside of the front console. Silver corrugated cardboard was used to layer the outside of the console. Finally, we used a black foam core to cover most of the insulation foam.

Paolo and Jerry take hot gluing to a new level – they carefully trimmed off all of the strings so that the glue wouldn’t be visible on the control panel.

What was the most challenging part of making your diorama?

Shaping the console and chair took most of our time. We had to make sure the foam was secured and sculpted correctly. Our group had to be certain that everything would fit and look neat together. Every component was covered with a coating of spray paint and foam core, which needed to be kept clean.

Where do you think the alien is traveling in his spaceship?

When we first saw the glass piece, our group imagined that the alien would be in his spaceship, flying around to different planets and meeting its inhabitants. The name I Come in Peace made us believe that the alien was talking to people and trying to make friends.

Which part of the diorama are you most proud of?

We are most proud of the lights on the diorama. It took a lot of work to position them correctly and place the wiring so it is unobtrusive to the rest of the diorama.

The electrical wiring for the lights is carefully concealed underneath the console.

Who worked on the diorama? Which parts were they responsible for?

Aaron and Robert drilled down the console, platform and the chair. They also ripped apart the motherboards, and several people had to use band aids due to many injuries. Edward created the artwork on the N64 game, and created the design for the diorama using a 3D program (Sketch-Up), which worked out all the dimensions. Tran worked on spray painting the foam, diorama floor, and console buttons. Paolo and Jerry worked on gluing down and securing most of the decorations on the console and chair.

Katie Phelps is the Curatorial Assistant/Visiting Artist Coordinator at Museum of Glass. She is an alumnus of Whitman College (BA) and University of Washington (MA). In her life outside of the Museum she is outside as much as possible, wearing skis as often as she does hiking boots.