Planning to hang.
Posted: May 12, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, light, student Leave a comment
Before I placed my work on the wall I felt it was necessary to place each of them on to the floor to work out the spacing between them. This is to make sure that the space does not look too cramped and to allow for the wiring to hang from each object. I started with the grey box in the middle, as this has to be placed in front of the hole that has been cut. After I was satisfied with the placement I masking taped around the outside of the boxes as a plan of where they will be put. To hang the boxes I will simply measure between the tape lines and create pencil lines on the board to work out from the central box.
Finishing the wood.
Posted: May 2, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, laser cutting., oil, student, valchromat Leave a comment
I have begun to use wood oils to add a finished look to my work. I had to do a lot of sanding to remove the burn marks on the wood from the laser, so, I have had to meticulously “dust” the pieces using a cloth as the dust really gets stuck in the living hinge design. Oiling is a lot simpler, I have put it onto the wood with a sponge brush so that there are no brush marks or bristles left behind. They have then been left over night to dry and absorb the oil before i rub them down with another cloth.
I left these pieces to dry in workshop space in the evening and unfortunately came in early the next morning to find that my work had been played with after I had left. This has caused a breakage – the small green box you can see in the picture had the hinge snapped almost clean off.
Cutting and cutting.
Posted: April 13, 2015 Filed under: Field, Process | Tags: art, Bespoke Laser UK, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, laser cutting., light, student, wood Leave a comment
I got more of my work laser cut by Bespoke Laser UK on Friday, ready to sand it all down and fix it together!
Gilding decisions.
Posted: April 10, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, gilding, laser cutting., light, mixed media., student, valchromat, wood Leave a comment
At first I was planning to simply gild the back of the boxes, as you can see in the image above. This was before I had developed the cuts for hanging the work onto nails. For a neater finish I have chosen to put false MDF backs into each of the designs, this is to hide the nail holes, as you can see in the last picture and also because gilding at right angles is not easy, and will not have as crisp a feel. To accommodate for this I have added 10mm to the depth of each design, as this will allow for the thickness of the MDF panel and raised runners which I will be using to raise the panel from the nail holes.
I have gilded these panels to have a textured finish. If I wanted a smooth and flawless finish I would have used metallic spray paint. I feel that the textured back gives more of a nod to the hand finished element of the design and is a contrast against the clean cuts the laser cutter creates. The texture of these will also allow light to bounce off the panels in a more arbitrary way.
Changing the box light.
Posted: March 7, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, laser cutting., student, wood, working model Leave a comment
The original box light has undertaken some drastic changes. I have changed the size of the piece I am working on to firstly get a working model before scaling the design up. I have altered the design to merge the front into the top (or side) of the box. The issues with this design is that i have not made the front longer and so it does not meet the bottom of the box, this could only be realised through cutting the object. The next steps for this object is to begin to work in a thicker material, like 6mm MDF or 8mm Valchromat and to make the box a little larger and deeper to allow it to hold a large bulb. I also need to add a cut for the bulb holder to be placed into the box.
I am hoping to use elasticated toggles to add control to the box, this will be further developed once a longer front section has been cut in a thicket material.
Self Supporting Hinges.
Posted: March 3, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, laser cutting., light, student, wood Leave a comment
This mechanism features two hinges that support each other by clipping together. These work best when notches are cut that fit back into the recesses on the smaller hinge. A design like this can allow for any number of hinges to be cut onto one piece.These will work best in front of a light source as they will allow more or less light to be distributed into a space with the adjustment of the hinge.
Wedges.
Posted: November 29, 2014 Filed under: Subject | Tags: cardiff school of art and design, cnc, Csad, design, perspex, plastic, student Leave a comment
I have been experimenting with the perspex wedges for the bendy light. These designs allow for the wiring to be put through the light or not to be. The main problem with the wedges is the tolerances. The CNC machine loses some of the material when it cuts so the wedges do not have as close a fit as I would like. I am working to fix this problem.
Living Hinge Experimentation.
Posted: October 23, 2014 Filed under: Ideas, Skills, Subject | Tags: cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, laser cutting., light, living hinge, plywood, wood Leave a comment
I have been researching methods of making wood bend, and have come across the concept of living hinges. Many open source options are available on sites such as Obrary (http://obrary.com/products/living-hinge-patterns?variant=798259727) which are quite successful, but I have chosen to design my own patterns to see what light patterns I can create whilst maintaining the characteristics of being a workable and bendable material.
These are my three most successful “hinges,” there are other trials that did not bend or broke under stress. (Looking that the top image) The hinge on top one is my favourite, perhaps because it is more intricate. It also bends a little bit more than the one below. The design below is not as pleasing to the eye as there is a lot of material still left, although it is more sturdy than the first. The bottom design is the most bendy, but is unable to hold its own form, which could become a problem with some design concepts. It is, however, fun to play with and the perfect stress release because of the pattern created through play. I feel that this would be better applied to the creation of jewellery or small objects to form a game.
I have many more ideas planned, but with the constraints of using the laser cutter (which is in high demand) I am working slower than I would like to be at the moment.
Final Outcome.
Posted: March 20, 2014 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, light, mixed media., student Leave a comment![IMG_1170[1]](https://alicesartventure.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/img_11701.jpg)
Here they are, my lights all packaged and ready to be sold.
Limited Edition.
Posted: February 27, 2014 Filed under: Field, Ideas, Process, Skills | Tags: art, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, laser cutting., light, student, wood Leave a comment![IMG_1122[1]](https://alicesartventure.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_11221.jpg)
![IMG_1121[1]](https://alicesartventure.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_11211.jpg)
New brief. This is my second field project which focuses on the idea of entrepreneurship and the ability to create works suitable to be made through small scale production and to be sold through a variety of mediums. I have chosen to develop a design I was working with in another project by using the off cut material as inspiration. I am developing a light design that mirrors the box/bronze light I am working on (that will be finished soon). This light also fits with my previous brief of “The Raw and Ready Made,” so could potentially feature as a submission there also.
This light works on the idea of the “ready made” as it uses a variety of bought components and I hope to sell the item in a flat pack state that allows the owner to build the “product” themselves. Purchasing flat pack furniture and building it at home creates a sense of achievement and ownership, this could also be viable for art works. It enables the owner of the artefact to share an ownership with the maker.
Through this project I am focusing on creating a product with a high finish and more of an identity as a maker though the exploration of makers marks. Makers marks are most commonly used in the ceramic industry to identify works to a particular factory or maker. I want to develop this idea to become something that I brand original works with in the variety of materials I explore through my practice.
Alice's ArtVenture 