The doorbell is already ringing with Trick or Treaters! Graham and I don't dress up but we like to sit on the front porch and give candy to the kids. This year some friends are coming over to join us. Hope everyone has a great evening.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween!
Thought I would share some of the beautiful fall days we have been having! I took this photo and video on the way home today. I love watching the power lines weave in and out.
The doorbell is already ringing with Trick or Treaters! Graham and I don't dress up but we like to sit on the front porch and give candy to the kids. This year some friends are coming over to join us. Hope everyone has a great evening.
The doorbell is already ringing with Trick or Treaters! Graham and I don't dress up but we like to sit on the front porch and give candy to the kids. This year some friends are coming over to join us. Hope everyone has a great evening.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wenge Boards
In my last post on the slide puzzle table I mentioned wanting to use some wood from the Rare Woods collection here at RISD. After spending some time on my hands and knees looking at the hundreds of boards in the collection, I decided that they didn't really have what I was looking for. I am hoping another opportunity will present itself but in the meantime I went ahead and purchased wood elsewhere. Specifically, I was looking for a wood with a strong grain pattern but not so strong as to be totally dominating.
I collaged this sample with Photoshop using an image of some Tigerwood boards. The grain is distinct but the strong contrast in colors was just a little too much. Throughout the whole research process, Graham was a big fan of Wenge (a wood native to Africa) and after seeing some samples of the actual wood I was sold. I found a company in Pennsylvania that was selling boards from a "flitch" (an entire tree cut into boards and then labeled in sequence) and bought #23 and #24. I needed boards that were exceptionally long and wide, otherwise I could have purchased the boards locally. These particular boards are 13 feet long and 23" wide each.
The entire studio has been quite impressed with the boards in their raw state. They really are good looking - hopefully I can maintain that beauty as they transition into furniture.
I collaged this sample with Photoshop using an image of some Tigerwood boards. The grain is distinct but the strong contrast in colors was just a little too much. Throughout the whole research process, Graham was a big fan of Wenge (a wood native to Africa) and after seeing some samples of the actual wood I was sold. I found a company in Pennsylvania that was selling boards from a "flitch" (an entire tree cut into boards and then labeled in sequence) and bought #23 and #24. I needed boards that were exceptionally long and wide, otherwise I could have purchased the boards locally. These particular boards are 13 feet long and 23" wide each.
The entire studio has been quite impressed with the boards in their raw state. They really are good looking - hopefully I can maintain that beauty as they transition into furniture.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Cultural Mirror Presentations
Here are some of the other projects:
Ruth designed a screen or room divider inspired by plant forms.
Hye Jung designed small seating pods that could be hung up like a coat when not in use.
Deb tried to build a chair for her fire escape that referenced the clothes people often hang out to dry. Her fire escape fought back and won but it was a great concept.
Eli's work is very much about process and materiality. Although this piece started out as a place to throw his half-dirty/half-clean clothes he is more interested in having the user give it function as they wish.
Philip designed a small adjustable-height stool with a spring pivot at the base. It was an amazing amount of work and he pulled it off.
Chloris built three L-shaped platforms for sitting and working. He is looking at ideas of necessity, purpose, and luxury for his thesis.
Antonio carved these two identical handles out of walnut. This photo really doesn't do them justice.
Pete built a small bookshelf based on the idiom "the elephant in the room" that held marginalized written works.
Liz made this acrylic table that was impossible to photograph. Even in person the lines blurred in and out of focus.
Ruth designed a screen or room divider inspired by plant forms.
Hye Jung designed small seating pods that could be hung up like a coat when not in use.
Deb tried to build a chair for her fire escape that referenced the clothes people often hang out to dry. Her fire escape fought back and won but it was a great concept.
Eli's work is very much about process and materiality. Although this piece started out as a place to throw his half-dirty/half-clean clothes he is more interested in having the user give it function as they wish.
Philip designed a small adjustable-height stool with a spring pivot at the base. It was an amazing amount of work and he pulled it off.
Chloris built three L-shaped platforms for sitting and working. He is looking at ideas of necessity, purpose, and luxury for his thesis.
Antonio carved these two identical handles out of walnut. This photo really doesn't do them justice.
Pete built a small bookshelf based on the idiom "the elephant in the room" that held marginalized written works.
Liz made this acrylic table that was impossible to photograph. Even in person the lines blurred in and out of focus.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Self-Portrait
We had our final presentations today for the project entitled Cultural Mirror. I am still processing all the comments but I wanted to go ahead and show you all the final product.
A lot of people really liked the project but there was a vocal minority who thought the frames and the hands were not cohesive both in terms of concept and form. By their nature, the frames are protecting and displaying while the hands seemed to be offering the books up to the user. Some people also thought the placement was too literal. Although on this point I definitely disagree - the placement has to be literal or the idea is lost.
As an added bonus, the hands do more than just hold stacks of books!
During the review I snapped some quick pics of Mariel and Hye Jung sitting right in front of my project. I though it was fun how similar they looked.
A lot of people really liked the project but there was a vocal minority who thought the frames and the hands were not cohesive both in terms of concept and form. By their nature, the frames are protecting and displaying while the hands seemed to be offering the books up to the user. Some people also thought the placement was too literal. Although on this point I definitely disagree - the placement has to be literal or the idea is lost.
As an added bonus, the hands do more than just hold stacks of books!
During the review I snapped some quick pics of Mariel and Hye Jung sitting right in front of my project. I though it was fun how similar they looked.
Thanks All Around
I woke up 6am yesterday morning anticipating a difficult day but by lunch time I had everything under control! I owe a big "thank you" to Mike at Replicast and Bill at WT Wilson for their help with the plastic and metal processes respectively.
Mike handled (no pun intended...) the making of the silicone mold and the new plastic pattern to replace the original fragile plaster. Most of his business is in the making of prototypes for companies like Hasbo (kids toys) and his shop is just full of molds.
Bill took the mold that Mike made and poured 500 degree molten tin into it...and out came the metal hand. Bill makes little trinkets of the type sold in gift stores. He had little tin army men laying around in droves.
He made three sets of hands from the mold but the first set happened to be the best. He can melt the other two down and reuse the material. I would have liked to have some extra copies but the things came out weighing ten pounds each so I think aluminum might be a better choice of material. I owe another thanks to Phil (a classmate) who helped me figure out an amazingly simple solution for attaching the hands to the wall. He literally shaved hours of work time off of my day.
Mike handled (no pun intended...) the making of the silicone mold and the new plastic pattern to replace the original fragile plaster. Most of his business is in the making of prototypes for companies like Hasbo (kids toys) and his shop is just full of molds.
Bill took the mold that Mike made and poured 500 degree molten tin into it...and out came the metal hand. Bill makes little trinkets of the type sold in gift stores. He had little tin army men laying around in droves.
He made three sets of hands from the mold but the first set happened to be the best. He can melt the other two down and reuse the material. I would have liked to have some extra copies but the things came out weighing ten pounds each so I think aluminum might be a better choice of material. I owe another thanks to Phil (a classmate) who helped me figure out an amazingly simple solution for attaching the hands to the wall. He literally shaved hours of work time off of my day.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Supersize Me
So my full-on bookshelf has transformed into something more focused and more do-able. Instead of trying to solve every problem - storage, adaptability, display - I am looking specifically at bookshelves as elements of display and self-portrait. I will be mounting a pair of cast, metal hands directly to the wall. These hands will hold a stack of ten or fifteen books. At the top of the display will be two frames for displaying books with cover art facing forward. One frame is meant to represent the mind and the other the heart, alluding to the idea that some books appeal to our intellect and some to our sentiments.
*********************imagine hands mounted here*******************
So now for the fun part. In order to cast a metal hand I have to first provide the company with a "plaster pattern" of the final product. They will then take this pattern and make a new mold that can survive for reuse through molten hot metal. Once this mold is created it is quite easy to make multiple finished castings. To create this plaster pattern I used a product called alginate which is used in dentist offices to make make molds of teeth. The hand is inserted into this mixture and once it has set the hand is removed to create a perfect hand-shaped hole. It is into this hole the plaster is poured. When the plaster has finished setting the alginate is ripped away and the perfect plaster hand remains.
My first attempt was a bit of a failure as the alginate mixture was full of lumps. Graham was my hand model and his pretty hands ended up looking like they were covered in disease.
I decided I needed some big hands so that the "shelf" could hold some big books. I found them in Peter Dean, one of the instructors in the furniture department who teaches woodworking to the sophomores. He has to be around 6'8" and his hands fit the bill. He was nice enough to give me an hour of his time and luckily we came away with a nice alginate mold. I had planned on doing two sets of hands in case something went wrong along the way, but his hands were so big we used the mixture I had planned on using for two sets on one. Luckily it all worked out.
That is until all the fingers fell off! The alginate mixture is flexible and the slight movement of the loose hand caused it to become detached from the still surrounded fingers. In the end all I got was one thumb to remain attached. Luckily, the breaks were clean and I was able to glue them back on with minimal effect. A little plaster patching and they will be fine.
For scale...
*********************imagine hands mounted here*******************
So now for the fun part. In order to cast a metal hand I have to first provide the company with a "plaster pattern" of the final product. They will then take this pattern and make a new mold that can survive for reuse through molten hot metal. Once this mold is created it is quite easy to make multiple finished castings. To create this plaster pattern I used a product called alginate which is used in dentist offices to make make molds of teeth. The hand is inserted into this mixture and once it has set the hand is removed to create a perfect hand-shaped hole. It is into this hole the plaster is poured. When the plaster has finished setting the alginate is ripped away and the perfect plaster hand remains.
My first attempt was a bit of a failure as the alginate mixture was full of lumps. Graham was my hand model and his pretty hands ended up looking like they were covered in disease.
I decided I needed some big hands so that the "shelf" could hold some big books. I found them in Peter Dean, one of the instructors in the furniture department who teaches woodworking to the sophomores. He has to be around 6'8" and his hands fit the bill. He was nice enough to give me an hour of his time and luckily we came away with a nice alginate mold. I had planned on doing two sets of hands in case something went wrong along the way, but his hands were so big we used the mixture I had planned on using for two sets on one. Luckily it all worked out.
That is until all the fingers fell off! The alginate mixture is flexible and the slight movement of the loose hand caused it to become detached from the still surrounded fingers. In the end all I got was one thumb to remain attached. Luckily, the breaks were clean and I was able to glue them back on with minimal effect. A little plaster patching and they will be fine.
For scale...
Material Exploration
So you know what I am doing in studio, and you know a bit about my slide puzzle table...but I haven't written much yet on the material exploration I have been doing as a part of my research elective. As promised, I have been working with rawhide which is a lot cooler than those dog bones would make it seem. I had some initial troubles with the online company from whom I ordered some remnants so I started working with paper to get some form and texture ideas.
I know some of you might be thinking "that just looks like wadded-up paper" but there was a method to the madness and as a starting point I thought it had potential. A few days later though the rawhide arrived and it didn't behave at all like the paper. Ranging in thickness from 1/32" to 1/8" the hides (these particular remnants are from a cow but hides are available from all sorts of animals - goats, pigs, deer, horses, buffalo, etc.) don't crinkle and bend like a piece of paper does. So I ditched the paper and just started working directly with the rawhide.
When the rawhide arrives it is hard and stiff so it has to be soaked in water for a few hours before it can be molded into shapes. Then once it dries again it holds the shape in which it dried. My goal with this project has always been to only use rawhide so I was looking for ways to put a little more strength into the material. I thought folding it like origami would layer up the material and the bends would provide a little extra strength. The remnants I had were really too small though in relation to their thickness and the material didn't really want to fold along crisp lines.
While the material was still wet I put a small drop of dye in one corner and watched the color spread along the veins and grooves of the hide. I don't quite know how I will incorporate this into a final piece but the effect is really beautiful and would be unique on each piece. My professor encouraged me to work with somehow attaching small components together to increase strength without adding an unnecessary amount of material. So below are my latest efforts...
One of the hardest things about the material is overcoming all of its visual and cultural history to create something new that transcends the material itself. I would like to make a small, sculptural ottoman/table but am trying to remain open to any good ideas the material presents.
I know some of you might be thinking "that just looks like wadded-up paper" but there was a method to the madness and as a starting point I thought it had potential. A few days later though the rawhide arrived and it didn't behave at all like the paper. Ranging in thickness from 1/32" to 1/8" the hides (these particular remnants are from a cow but hides are available from all sorts of animals - goats, pigs, deer, horses, buffalo, etc.) don't crinkle and bend like a piece of paper does. So I ditched the paper and just started working directly with the rawhide.
When the rawhide arrives it is hard and stiff so it has to be soaked in water for a few hours before it can be molded into shapes. Then once it dries again it holds the shape in which it dried. My goal with this project has always been to only use rawhide so I was looking for ways to put a little more strength into the material. I thought folding it like origami would layer up the material and the bends would provide a little extra strength. The remnants I had were really too small though in relation to their thickness and the material didn't really want to fold along crisp lines.
While the material was still wet I put a small drop of dye in one corner and watched the color spread along the veins and grooves of the hide. I don't quite know how I will incorporate this into a final piece but the effect is really beautiful and would be unique on each piece. My professor encouraged me to work with somehow attaching small components together to increase strength without adding an unnecessary amount of material. So below are my latest efforts...
One of the hardest things about the material is overcoming all of its visual and cultural history to create something new that transcends the material itself. I would like to make a small, sculptural ottoman/table but am trying to remain open to any good ideas the material presents.
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