Progression

Once I had made my info-graphics, it was much easier to begin producing imagery. I think if this had been done a week or two into Unit X we would have progressed the idea much further and our project would have been more successful overall as we struggled to make big group decisions.

I progressed my ideas for the Weedy Sea Dragon, Stag Beetle and Bison as these were the most threatened of my four chosen animals had the best potential for mechanical upgrades- The Arctic Fox was difficult to modify as it is only endangered due to habitat loss and scarcity of food.

I tried to vary my approaches to creating imagery for each animal and was determined to make a life-like, mechanically altered Stag Beetle after visiting the displays of insects at the Manchester Museum (as seen below).

My first attempt to make the Beetle was atrocious... I had constructed it four times bigger than a real Stag Beetle and it was not carefully crafted. However, my next, smaller attempt was much more successful. 

I used an assortment of found items to create the beetle and filled its insides (revealed by open wings) with tiny cogs and clock parts to represent the mechanical alterations. I decided that to survive endangerment and be useful to the environment, the modified stag beetle must be able to consume and process scrap metal and turn it into small, recyclable pellets. This was based on the way these beetles consume dead plant matter and return the minerals they contained to the soil.

After making this sculpture I considered how I might display it if I used it in the exhibition. I thought about  doing a scientific-style exploded drawing of how the modified beetle might work and photograph the beetle crawling on, or pinned, to the diagram.