3DF (Term 1)
Week 1
During our first lesson, we were introduced to various workshop that our lecturer, Siwei, had been to about materials. In one workshop that she did, she had to use the scrap material provided to make a new material. She showed us how she had made used of the plastic side of the brown paper for food and transformed it into a less flimsy material using stickers. She also introduce us to other projects that her past students had done before and the projects we will be doing. For this class, we did something similar to the workshop she spoke about. We had to bring some scrap materials and use them to form a new material.
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We were given some time to do it. For myself I picked up a type of sponge made of string, a spronge and a styrofoam bowl to experiment with. I started to cut up the stringy strong first and use the firing to weave it into the styrofoam to see how that turn out. Afterwards I just started to experiment with other materials including some strings. I didn't really know whether what I was creating counted as a new material but I was simply experimenting with seeing what I could do with 2 materials without glue. Most of the things I did were rather small since I was just experimenting with them. Altogether I made around 3 sample of different material. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of them. But the goal of this exercise is to break down the way we viewed material and the process in which we create thing. We should have fun experimenting with the materials that we have. We were also given our next task to do which was to get an A4 tray and create a new type of textile experience to step on.
Week 2
This lesson was a continuation of the assignment given last week. We had to bring in different materials we wanted to use for our assignment. Siwei went around to discuss with us what materials we brought and the possibilities of how we may explore them. For me I brought some peanuts and some Halloween stremers from Daiso. My idea was for the peanut was that I could use the shell, the nut and the entire peanut for texture. Unfortunately, they are perishable so I could only use the shells. SHe suggest that I could try stacking the shells like nuts, turning it into a sort of paste or using it together with the streamers that I had brought. Alternatively, I could also try making the shell smooth to contrast the look and the feel of the shell. SO through out this lesson I was de-shelling my peanut shells. For my next step, I will have to experiment with the different possibilities that I can do with the materials I have
Week 3
This lesson we had to present our A4 material tray. As a continuation from last week, I had continued working on the nuts that I had cut open. The approach that I had when approaching this project was to try and make the shell of the nuts smooth. I used latex glue to try to achieve that as you can see in the first picture. I only did it for a third of the shells because I wanted to contrast that with how normal peanut shells felt like. Due to time constraints, I only mange to do one coat of glue. I had tried to put a really thick layer but I think putting another layer would have achieve better results. With the broken pieces of the peanut shells, I decided to try sticking them together to create "little soldiers" out of them, although I think someone said it looked like some kind of massacre of peanuts. This can be seen in the second photo. I was seeing how they would feel stuck together and how they would defer from regular shells. The last photo shows the final products. Overall, I felt like I could have spend more time on it to develop it into other texture. I think that there was more ways that I could have pushed the material I had on me. But I think was inspired by the others works of my classmates and was really intrigued by their works.
After that, we were given our next exercise to do which was to deal with paper and foam boards. After going out to buy the materials, Siwei gave us the task of creating something wearable on our head using 1 sheet of paper. I guess I remembered how to make a fast one as a kid and fashioned myself a Peter Pan style hat within seconds of her telling us to start. Honestly, it isn't the most creative since I had learned this as a child. But this gave me the time to watch how others did their own wearable object. It was really fun seeing the different approaches adopted by others. But through this we were given our net task of creating another 2 individual wearable objects with the paper and foam board we had brought. We had to use the entirety of the paper we had with no spare and we could not bend the foam boards.
Week 5
During the first half of the lesson, we had to present our paper wearable and foam wearable that we had to make at home instead of in class. Below are what I have made. In the previous week, Siwei was sick so there wasn't a class. But a few of us decided to come to class to do up this model
Afterwards, we had to make rectilinear forms to display our understanding of the concept of balance. We had to make a few of these forms using foam, making sure that they were smooth. We were to present them during the next lesson. It was tough at first to get use to making things accurately but I soon got the hang of it. These are the models I made.
Week 7-9
On Week 7, in order to make up for the previous lesson we missed on week 4 and 6, we had three lesson in a roll from Tuesday to Thursday to create our lampshade. Afterwards, Siwei decided to give a week extention and allow us to display our final lampshade after the term break. This was my process:
Initially, I cut out a circle and made a flower-like structure with it. I thought of adding something below to make it look like a fruit but Siwei suggested that I just use a single piece of paper to create the form as the design language would be more seamless.
Using the structure that I had folded, I started experimenting with different cards to see if I could make it hold its structure. These are my failed pieces.
After experimenting with the form, I finally manage to come up with a form that I like that could support its weight. However it did require me to experiment and practise cutting and glueing the price together. I started out with a smaller circle to get a sense of the form first and to ensure that the structure remain even. But afterwards, I tried it out with bigger paper to get the actual dimensions and shape down.
This is the final prototype of my lampshade. Overall I am pretty proud that I was able to make this even though I know it isn't perfect. But the process has taught me a lot about being precise with my making skills and the design language of the product. A suggestion given by SIwei was that I could have tried some other material besides paper as that will help to hold the form of the folds better. This will allow for better precision when glueing and making. She also commented on how the top of the lampshade was like a blooming flower.
Wood Modelmaking (Term 2)
Week 9-11
For our first assignment, we had to make a wooden box. This was for us to get use to the machinery at the workshop. I will say that I am not that well versed in wood making and I am generally not that skilled at making things that are meant to be used. So I was really glad to have the knowledgeble technicians who were able to properly guide us through each step in making this. Unfortunately I did make some error in term of the nailing of my handle and in putting in the legs. But overall I am still proud of the design that I have made.
Week 12-15
For our final assignment, we were placed into either groups of 2 or 3. This was decided through a lucky draw. I was paired up with Raihan for this project. Our project was to make a rocking horse which is honestly very complicated. Which was why I am really fortunate that I had a partner who was knowledgeable about woodmaking and I guess I did rely on him to guide me through what to do and taught me how to use the various machinaries.. And unfortunately I did make some errors here and there which I am really sorry for. Thankfully we were able to fix them, mostly due to his and the workshop technician's help. I am truly thankful to have had such help during this process. I think going through this process taught me how important the preparation was to creating a good finishing. We had spend a lot of time sanding the wood and preparing it for ther the final construction. At time it seemed rather tedious to do all this sanding. But the effort we put in was evidence when we did our final finishing of lacquaring, oiling and wacxing. We could really see the beauty of the wood and the craftmanship. And after we put in the final details, we were so proud of the finished product. This took 4 official lessons and 3 unofficial lesson to create our rocking house.
