Punch it!, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2019
“Punch it!”, Daniel D. Brown, 2019, handmade wooden multimedia intarsia artwork based on Star Wars.
See more video of lights & sound here
I built this artwork of Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon over the course of 7 weeks from ~190 hand-cut (scrollsawed) pieces of wood from over 20 different species, most of it reclaimed. The star trails were also scrollsawed and filled with resin. I designed it in Adobe Illustrator, based on a movie still frame. Although the original plan was much simpler, over the course of the project I ended up adding an Adafruit soundboard with 6 scores that play through 1 button (the small white one), and 10 movie dialogue clips that play through another (the left thruster stick). A rebel insignia button on the right of the frame powers the sound. Toward the end of the project, I decided to add radiating Adafruit DotStar LED strips controlled by three different programs I coded on an Arduino Uno, which can be switched by moving Han’s dice (made in a previous project) containing an embedded magnet. The top of the frame has 2 hidden magnetic switches embedded within it. The light power is currently controlled by telling my phone “Hey Siri, punch it!” Or “Exit hyperspace”.
Note: this is not for sale. This was for me alone.
The entire process was documented in well over 200 Instagram stories, now highlighted on my profile in 3 parts. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
I have to give HUGE heartfelt thanks to the many many people constantly offering encouragement and advice. You’re seriously the only reason I posted all the build details.
Of course, I’d like to thank George Lucas and the countless artists of all types who’ve made Star Wars such a fun Universe.