Grammy’s Just Don’t Understand
2019
| Piece Stats |
|---|
| - Approx. 1500 pieces |
| - Grammys: 17" L x 15.7" H x 2.5" W |
| - Seats: 6 5/16" x 14. I 5" x 8 13/16" |
On February 22, 1989, a cadre of rappers boycotted the 31st Grammy Awards, due to the announcement of the Best Rap Performance award not being televised. Rap music was continuing its ascent towards the mainstream, and coming off their huge single, “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince chose not to attend, feeling it was a “slap in the face” to not televise the first rap Grammy award.
The goal here was to acknowledge both their significant place in history as well as their bravery in helping to set rap on a path to respect and dominance across the world.
Finding the appropriate scale for the Grammy award was deceptively simple, when you base it off of a piece and work backwards - in this case, it was the yellow 8x8 round tile that served as the record for the gramophone statue.
Knowing that awards of this statue usually have some heft to them, the goal was to still have the statue be structurally sound, but be as light as possible.
Using stand-in pieces of different colors, the exploration of the rim of the speaker continued while waiting for pieces to arrive. Here, we’re checking for stability, shape, and scale.
Even after landing on a shape, there’s further exploration to try to improve. Here’s an exploration that wasn’t furthered because it didn’t add any significance to the shape - the yellow cheese slopes on the rim.
The beginning and end of the speaker shape - knowing that the middle is the most challenging.
Starting to fill out the shape of the speaker, layering connections to maintain its hold throughout the model.
The chair design is based off the seating at the Shrine Auditorium, where the Grammys were held in 1989.
Although we got the shape of the statue technically right, we still had to account for the weight of the speaker - check those clear pieces out that are holding it up!
“We feel that our music was important enough, and is important enough, to have been on this show.”
— The Fresh Prince
